Then Came You
Jennifer Weiner
Atria Books
352 pages
ISBN 13: 9781451617726
Jennifer Weiner
Atria Books
352 pages
ISBN 13: 9781451617726
India Bishop reinvented herself from a past she wants to forget to a present she’s proud of, she has her own PR firm and she just met the man of her dreams, wealthy beyond belief Marcus Croft. After a whirl-wind courtship they marry and even at their age she’s 39 (43) he’s mid 50’s they decide to have a baby.
Bettina Croft, doting daughter of Marcus knows right away what India is, a fake, a gold digger and only after her father’s money and she’s going to do the right thing. Have her investigated.
Jules Strauss had everything until one fateful night when her father was involved in an accident that injured a mother and child in the other car, why is this life changing, he was drunk. Now after years of habitual abuse and trying to stay clean Jules has the perfect solution to pay for a last chance effort of total sobriety, she’s going to sell her eggs to a fertility clinic.
Annie Barrow married her high school sweetheart has two children a run down farm and mountains of bills, it’s hard to maintain a growing family on one income and she really wants to stay home for her boys and she’s found the perfect solution, she’s going to be a surrogate for a fertility clinic.
Amazingly or not these women’s lives all intertwine with each other, sometimes they act like evasive weeds and sometimes like the gentlest of flowers, how will it all turn out. Read on.
Bettina Croft, doting daughter of Marcus knows right away what India is, a fake, a gold digger and only after her father’s money and she’s going to do the right thing. Have her investigated.
Jules Strauss had everything until one fateful night when her father was involved in an accident that injured a mother and child in the other car, why is this life changing, he was drunk. Now after years of habitual abuse and trying to stay clean Jules has the perfect solution to pay for a last chance effort of total sobriety, she’s going to sell her eggs to a fertility clinic.
Annie Barrow married her high school sweetheart has two children a run down farm and mountains of bills, it’s hard to maintain a growing family on one income and she really wants to stay home for her boys and she’s found the perfect solution, she’s going to be a surrogate for a fertility clinic.
Amazingly or not these women’s lives all intertwine with each other, sometimes they act like evasive weeds and sometimes like the gentlest of flowers, how will it all turn out. Read on.
Jennifer Weiner has a way with words that no one quite matches. She can grow a story like no one else, she can nurture the narrative and drive the dialogue until her readers simply can’t stop turning the pages. This tale comes straight from the latest gossip rag and it’s hot off the presses. Her dialogue is informative, easy to read and to understand no matter if she’s using the voice of the highest of echelon or most blue-collared worker it just resonates. The characters are unequaled in their respective roles and each one will stay with the reader long after the novel is finished. This is a story of friendship, of love, of pain, of forgiveness and of redemption, it will touch every reader on a personal level and leave them with that all elusive glass half full feeling.
No matter what kind of reader you are, this is your next story, and your go back to tale for years to come, it’s the one that you’ll recommend, the one that you’ll buy as a gift and the one that will rest on the shelves with that well used patina.
Thank you Ms. Weiner for another incredible journey.
Buy the book here visit the author’s website here.
Thank you Ms. Weiner for another incredible journey.
Buy the book here visit the author’s website here.
Then Came You examines the issues surrounding fertility in modern society through four very different characters. Jules donates her eggs in return for the money that might help cure her father of his addictions, Annie is motivated financially to offer herself as a surrogate and India wants a child to cement the relationship with her new husband, horrifying her stepdaughter Bettina.
ReplyDeleteWith four protagonists, each at different stages in their lives, Weiner has created a book with mass commercial appeal. The characters reflect a cross section of women, one of which is likely to resonate with readers because of their age or circumstance. To be fair, the author provides sincere motivation for each of the four women but I don't think she strays very far from stereotypes. I found it difficult to invest in their characters because they were all so predictable, from the spoilt stepdaughter to the gold-digger who fell in love with her husband. Jules's relationship was unexpected, but the cynic in me thought it was as contrived as Annie's sister in law. Surprisingly the story has very little romance when I expected it to feature for at least one of the women and the men are almost entirely incidental to the story. Unusual, when the theme of the novel is baby-making.
Though there were some plot twists that I thought were interesting and unexpected, the convenience of the very neat, HEA ending was disappointing. It's a nice 'warm fuzzy' idea, but unrealistic and as such, unsatisfying.
Then Came You is a rather lack lustre, formulaic novel from a writer I had higher expectations of. I am a fan of some of Weiner's earlier books like Good In Bed and Goodnight Nobody, and while I was reading Then Came You I was happy enough with the story, it was only when I had finished that I realised it was essentially unsatisfying.
Thanks for your comment Eesti
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