Natalie Clark knew never to ask her sensitive adoptive mother questions about her past. She doesn’t even know her birth mother’s name—only that the young woman signed parental rights over to the state when Natalie was a baby. Now Natalie’s own daughter must complete a family tree project for school, and Natalie is determined to unearth the truth about her roots.
Brooke Walker doesn’t have a family. At least, that’s what she tells herself after being separated from her mother and her little sister at age four. Having grown up in a state facility and countless foster homes, Brooke survives the only way she knows how, by relying on herself. So when she discovers she’s pregnant, Brooke faces a heart-wrenching decision: give up her baby or raise the child completely on her own. Scared and confused, she feels lost until a surprise encounter gives her hope for the future.
How do our early experiences—the subtle and the traumatic—define us as adults? How do we build relationships when we’ve been deprived of real connection? Critically acclaimed author Amy Hatvany considers controversial and complicated questions about childhood through the lens of her finely crafted characters in this astute novel about mending wounds by diving into the truth of what first tore us apart.
Comment: This is the third book by this author I read so I knew her style when I opened the book. Still, I wanted to be surprised and I think the story did deliver on being compelling to read.
In this novel, we follow three main characters through their lives and the way they see themselves, especially in sight of an event that set the course for them all. Thirty-five years ago, Jennifer was a young woman who had no one to help her and when she was sentenced to go to prison, she gave up her custody rights of her two young daughters, 4 year old Brooke and months old Natalie. Jennifer knew she couldn't provide for the girls but it was still with a heavy heart she let them go, grabbing into the idea they would remain together despite her not being there anymore.
However, this is not what happens, and Natalie is adopted right away but Brooke has a hard time accepting her mother won't come back. Throughout the novel, the three characters tell their side of things and we get to see how what happened shaped their lives and their choices. Could the three of them be reunited again and if so, can they create bonds that many people take for granted?
This was a very easy book to read. The story was told in an sufficiently enough emotional manner that didn't go into exaggerated scenes and the "voice" of each main character made them feel very human, very realistic and approachable, despite the less positive situations, for the reader to care about what was happening to them all. There are three main characters, mother Jennifer, whose voice we have in first person, and each daughter, whom we follow in third person.
It was quite interesting the way the author made this distinction. Jennifer is someone who had a lot of bad luck, added to some bad choices due to her immaturity. Sure, all teenagers are regarding some aspect of their lives and not all end up pregnant so young, so I can see why this has influenced Jennifer's life from then on. I was quite sympathetic to her, though. Her personality, her way of thinking, everything about her, including the mistakes we see her doing, made me feel both sorry for her and sympathy over the fact she was powerless to just change things. Of course first person works here because her perspective is unique and we can create a lot of empathy with her over what she describes but also, because she, simply put, an interestingly flawed person to know. I was eager to keep having her POV because I wanted to see how she was coping.
Her daughters we follow differently. We see what they think and feel but with 3rd person narrator. I suppose this worked out to keep us in doubt about some of their moves throughout the plot but it was very easy to go from each one of their "voices".
Brooke is the oldest and never conformed with the system. She was old enough to remember her mother and wanting to go back to her. Natalie was a baby so her personality wasn't developed yet and by being adopted, she had a completely different life, even if her parents told her the truth. She is, obviously, the one with the more stable life. The fascinating part is to see how they interact with others because of their upbringing, especially because it was so different. It's not a surprise they have to encounter each other but how could this go, how could this change anything about their lives? Had they been raised together, would their personalities be any different?
I liked the way this plot was developed and I must say I'm glad things never went into drama levels. I mean, there are hard things to deal with, there are dramatic situations we read about and that the characters face but the author never inserted melodrama just to create shock. Still, I wasn't sure this would be so until the end so I did dread if something really bad would happen. There's this sense of tension in a big part of the book but for those who avoid complicated dramas, nothing here was over the top or ridiculous.
I did like how the relationships between the several characters were portrayed. I think it's inevitable that some things do seem a little too easy or too "nice" but overall I got a rather realistic vibe. I liked how all of them had an idea on how things happened and how terrible it must have been to imagine the idea all had was not the reality, namely how Jennifer assumed her daughters would have been together. I suppose there was also some influence on her when she made her decision but, again, what choice was there? There is quite a lot in this novel to let us think about about real issues...
I was having a great time reading this, despite the sense the pages were getting fewer and there seemed to be some situations unsolved yet... in fact, the end was a little open-ended. I understand throughout the book what mattered the most had been addressed but I admit I would have preferred a bit more closure on one or two details...OK, maybe that wasn't the author's intention, but it would have been good to see on the page how some things developed after the way we see the story ending.
All things considered, this was a solid read, entertaining, thought provoking. It worked well for me.
Grade: 8/10
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