A Child of My Own by VanessaCarnevale @v_carnevale @bookuture #family #adoption #blogtour @absltmom

This book grabbed me by the heart and wouldn’t let go. For many couples one of life’s greatest joys is having a baby and for many this is an easy thing to accomplish. However, for some having or trying to have a baby is fraught with anguish, disappointment, and sorrow.

Now through the marvels of science, there are many ways to achieve pregnancy and this story revolved around one procedure that proved to be successful for a couple.

Isa and Ben knowing they could not conceive a child are devastated. Then a most precious wonderful thing happens. Isa’s best friend, Lucy, and her beloved husband, Nate, decide to become egg donors for Ben and Isa, knowing that they(Lucy and Nate) never desired a child.

But the friendship that was solid between Isa and Lucy, falls apart and as the child, Reese grows to ten, she becomes fascinated with family and its traits thanks to a school project. Of course, her parents never shared with her the manner of her conception, so Reese is unaware of why her traits are different until a tragedy occurs. When she is made aware, she gradually comes to accept it through the fine way in which her parents’ deal with it. She does meet with Lucy at Nate’s funeral and later is eager to find the ties that bind her to heredity and now deceased birth father.

In those intervening ten years, Lucy and her husband, Nate, led a life that took them around the world to exotic locations without seemingly a care, never wanting children, so the three fertilized eggs donated to Isa are never near their thoughts until a horrible skiing accident happens and Nate tragically dies. In a show of compassion, Isa reconnects with Lucy after a span of ten years.

Unbeknownst to Isa, Lucy and Nate’s feelings for having a child had changed recently and previous to his tragic death, they were considering the possibility of a child. Now, amidst sorrow and loss, when things seem the worst, there is one ray of light. For Lucy realizes that there remains one fertilized egg of Nate’s and hers left and there is a chance for her to have their child. At the very same time, Isa and Ben have also decided to use that third egg and try for another child.

The legal, emotional, and social issues tied up with their decisions are enough to rock any friendship especially one that is trying very hard to rekindle the deep friendship that Isa and Lucy once had. Feelings fly and eventually both immediate families become embroiled in the struggle pulling the ladies in different directions.

It’s complicated and heart breaking but, in the end, perhaps it is the friendship, strong as it once was, that will carry the ladies through the utter tumult they are going through. Definitely recommend this book for its emotional and passionate telling of the torment and anguish these women had to bear as well as the deep sorrow women experience when their need for a baby is not answered.
Thank you to Vanessa Carnavale, Bookouture, and NetGalley for a copy of this story due out today, March 6, 2021. Thank you also to Sarah Hardy for the invite to read this wonderful story.

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 and Facebook or via her websites: www.vanessacarnevale.com | www.yourbeautifulwritinglife.com