Some books leave me with answers and others with questions. This book does both. Also, since I read it right after a Holocaust real-life book, it eased off my tension. The main idea of the story is about knowing our true selves and not favoring mind over heart or vice versa. For all those things plus a great story, I am grateful for this author's work.

In the story,Marian Caldwell is from a good family and she has reached the status of being a New York TV producer. She is also dating her boss and wanting to marry him. Her boss has an ex-wife and a son.

Still, seemingly she has the ideal life. Until one evening her doorbell rings and there is an eighteen-year-old girl, Kirby, who is the baby Marian gave away at birth when she herself was eighteen. This was a secret she hid from everyone and her best friends, except her mother, who helped her through the adoption. It was so that even Marian’s father didn’t know about it or so, Marian thought.

Kirby’s showing-up starts a chain of events and memories as Kirby’s father was the man Marian really loved.

Although the main character here is Marian who struggles to face her own real self, the story also focuses on Kirby, who was adopted by a good family but of lesser wealth and social standing. Most of the story concentrates on the flimsy rapport between Marian and Kirby and the complex relationships among all other primary and secondary characters. In the end, most of the characters discover most things about themselves and life and where they belong.

Of all the characters, I liked Kirby the best. Compared to others, she was the only one who was true to herself the most. Marian was a flawed character but still a nice one. Of all the characters, I liked Marian’s mother the least.

The story is told in the third-person, most of the time from Marian’s point of view. The storytelling is exquisite all around and I admired the author’s self-control of not divulging the secrets immediately. Her strategic arrangement and presentation of the events and what people are under their skins are exemplary. This alone makes the novel captivating as it holds the reader’s attention to the end.

Another point I liked was that this story lacked the Hollywood ending of bringing Kirby’s real parents together. As I kept on reading, I was afraid of that. That would take away from the core idea and my enjoyment of the story.

Thus my overall view is, due to excellent story weaving and an interesting, humanly plot and characters, this novel is a winner.

appreciating how well an author turns a rather common story into a complex one.

the complexity of the main character and the characterization of the other primary and secondary characters.

read the other books this author has written.

Emily Giffin's other books are: Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Baby Proof, Love The One You're With, Heart of the Matter, Where We Belong, and The One & Only.

the story weaving is excellent and the plot is interesting, too, as it makes a person think, "What would I do if I were in this situation?"

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Created Feb 03, 2020 at 3:54pm • Submit your own review...