Other People's Children
Books | Fiction / Women
3.6
Jeff Hoffmann
An “engrossing debut” (Laura Dave, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me) novel about a couple whose baby dreams of adoption push them to do the unthinkable when their baby’s birth family steps into the picture.How far would you go to save your family? As soon as Gail and John Durbin bring home their adopted baby Maya, she becomes the glue that mends their fractured marriage. But the Durbin’s social worker, Paige, can’t find the teenage birth mother to sign the consent forms. By law, Carli has seventy-two hours to change her mind. Without her signature, the adoption will unravel. Carli is desperate to pursue her dreams, so giving her baby a life with the Durbins’ seems like the right choice—until her own mother throws down an ultimatum. Soon Carli realizes how few choices she has. As the hours tick by, Paige knows that the Durbins’ marriage won’t survive the loss of Maya, but everyone’s life is shattered when they—and baby Maya—disappear without a trace. Filled with heartrending turns, Other People’s Children is a “heartbreakingly dark, suspenseful exploration of the boundaries two women push to have a child” (Cara Wall, bestselling author of The Dearly Beloved) that you’ll find impossible to put down.
AD
Buy now:
More Details:
Author
Jeff Hoffmann
Pages
384
Publisher
Simon and Schuster
Published Date
2021-04-06
ISBN
1982159111 9781982159115
Community ReviewsSee all
"Love that the story took place in the Western Suburbs of Chicago! I know Elmhurst, as it’s a neighboring community to where I live. Aside from that, the exploration of what people are capable of when what they love or what they want is in jeopardy was interesting. The characterization shift between Gail and Jon, and the evolution of Carli, and the revelation of Paige’s past all made for compelling storytelling. For a male author, I thought Hoffman did a good job of exploring the feelings of each of the mothers in the story: remorse, guilt, confusion, pain, misguided vengeance. The deconstruction on the Madonna image was artfully done. The reason for the 3-star rating is because IMO the ending tied up too tidily and wasn’t plausible. It was kind of a let down after such an engrossing 350 pages."