Other People's Children
A Novel
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4.2 • 14 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hoffmann's riveting debut is a high-stakes exploration of how far people will go to protect their family. Despite three miscarriages and failed adoption attempts, Gail Durbin remains determined to become a mother. Her husband, Jon, though supportive, is less sure about parenthood. After being abandoned by his own father and neglected by his mentally unstable mother, Jon is terrified of becoming a terrible parent himself. Then, Carli, a poor, pregnant 18-year-old, chooses Jon and Gail as the prospective adoptive parents of her unborn child. Once baby Maya arrives, Jon realizes that caring for Maya will give him a chance to be a successful father; Gail feels complete and hopeful for the first time in years; Carli grapples with what her future will look like without her daughter as she struggles to attend community college and eke out an existence more promising than living with her abusive mother; and Carli's mother, Marla, resorts to callous, violent tactics to get the Durbins to return her granddaughter. What results is a nail-biting examination of socioeconomic disparity and loyalty as Maya's future hangs precariously in the balance. Hoffmann's believable characters don't disappoint, and his engrossing look at fraught issues piques. This sharp tale of heartache, loss, and redemption resonates. Correction: An earlier version of this review misspelled the author's last name. It also incorrectly referred to him as a woman in one instance.
