Having read Vanessa Carnevale’s My Life For Yours I just had to read A Child Of My Own.
A Child Of My Own
As I watch her walk away, an arm raised to her face as she wipes tears from her eyes, I wonder if I really can go through losing her again. Because if I do this, I might gain a child, but I’ll lose her in the process.
Isla and Ben are devoted parents to their beloved daughter, Reese. She is their little miracle, the child they thought they’d never have until donors made her existence possible. But Isla has never told Reese about her biological parents. She wants to be honest with her daughter, but can she bear to open up old wounds?
Then Isla receives a call from Lucy, once her closest friend and the donor who made her dreams come true, and it seems she may need to make a decision sooner than she thought. They haven’t spoken in almost ten years, but Lucy has devastating news: she has lost her beloved husband Nate, just after they decided they wanted to become parents after all.
Heartbroken for her friend, Isla welcomes Lucy back into her life. But then Lucy comes to Isla with a request that changes everything. If Lucy gets what she wants, Isla’s perfect family could be destroyed. But would she deny the woman who helped her become a mother the chance for her own happiness?
A Child of My Own is a heartbreaking, gripping and emotional story about motherhood, loss and friendship, perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, Kelly Rimmer and Kate Hewitt.
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My Review
With same-sex marriages, sperm and embryo donations and surrogacy on the rise, the definition of what family is has changed these days. Society and its professed values hasn’t quite kept up with these changes and these families are not always accepted. This lack of acceptance is the thread that runs through A Child Of My Own.
Lucy and Isla have been friends since they were young girls. Their husbands, Nate and Ben were friends too. Lucy and Nate had no plans to have a child, being happy in their lifestyle. So they generously donated three embryos to Isla and Ben to allow them to have the children they longed for. One embryo didn’t take and one resulted in the birth of Reese. But as Reese’s birth came close, Isla announced that she didn’t want Nate and Lucy to have any access to the baby and she basically stopped all interactions between the two couples.
Now, ten years later, Nate is dead and Lucy turns to Isla for comfort. Lucy also meets her biological daughter, Reese and wants to continue being in her life. When Lucy reveals that she wants to have a baby with the only embryo that’s left, their friendship is tested to the extreme. Can Isla return the gift that Lucy and Nate gave her?
With a great deal of sensitivity, the author explores the ethical and legal issues around donor embryos, but more importantly the story delves into all the emotional complexities surrounding such children. Some of these issues are similar to adopted children too. But at the core, this is a beautiful story of friendship, family, forgiveness and love that goes beyond oneself and rescues the other.
Meet The Author
Vanessa Carnevale is an Australian author of women’s fiction. She is also the host of Your Beautiful Writing Life retreats held in Tuscany and Australia.
Vanessa loves to travel, and spent several years living in Florence, Italy, a place she considers her second home. She lives in Australia with her husband and two children.
Her previous novels, THE MEMORIES OF US and THE FLORENTINE BRIDGE are published by HarperCollins and have been translated into German and Slovenian. Vanessa’s third novel will be published by Bookouture in August 2020.
You can connect with Vanessa on Instagram| Facebook | Twitter and her website.
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Thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
