Babyface
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2.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
When Nina met Jonathan through the personals, she thought he seemed nice enough. Little did she know that her quest for companionship would lead to an unplanned pregnancy, a new living situation, a fork in her career path and gossipy new-mommy groups.
Trapped in their London home with diapers and homemade baby food (made by Jonathan, of course), Nina craves a little glamour, the odd afternoon out and—dare she think it?—maybe even a sexy dress. When her fashion editor friend needs a baby for a photo shoot, little Ben’s career as a model is launched, and Nina has a nice excuse to get out more. She intends to tell Jonathan—really she does—about their son’s star turn, but the time is never right, and they’ve been getting on so well. Of course, it’s only a matter of time until her secret is exposed.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A personal ad, placed on a whim, brings major changes in Gibson's wry debut. The sparks don't exactly fly between "triumph over tragedy" journalist Nina and mild, sensible software programmer Jonathan. But a surprise pregnancy means it's time to settle down, with the wedding in the future. After giving birth, Nina tries to bond with earnest mothers over breast-feeding, and views her "vanilla-toned" living room and life with understandable ambivalence. Then her fashion-stylist best friend, needing a baby for a photo shoot, entices Nina to bring her son. Soon, agents are calling and Nina is squiring Ben to shoots all over London and hiding the truth from straight-arrow Jonathan. When Jonathan finds out, the marriage plans are off, and Nina flees to the French countryside, where she makes new friends and takes a young lover while those she left behind intersect in unexpected ways. With self-effacing, deadpan humor, Gibson concedes motherhood's quotidian moments while also conveying its fierce pleasures. Nina navigates motherly duties and selfish desires with a humorous, almost accidental aplomb against a cast of familiar characters whose humanity gradually sharpens into focus. In the process, Nina confronts her past and questions the easy conclusions she's drawn in a life forever changed by her child. While Gibson doesn't quite get at the heart of Nina's relationship with Jonathan, she does charmingly evoke the bittersweet bond of motherhood.
