Saving Abby
Fiction
Lake Union Publishing
May 31, 2016
Paperback
274
Publisher via BookSparks
All children's book illustrator Claire Turner ever wanted was to be a mother. After six years of trying to conceive, she and her husband, Josh, have finally accepted that she will never be pregnant with a child of their own. Yet once they give up hope, the couple gets the miracle they've been waiting for. For the first few months of her pregnancy, Claire and Josh are living on cloud nine. But when she begins to experience debilitating headaches, blurred vision, and even fainting spells, the soon-to-be mother goes to the doctor and receives a terrifying diagnosis. Since any treatment could put their unborn baby's life at risk, the Turners must carefully weigh their limited options. And as her symptoms worsen, Claire will have to make an impossible decision: Save her own life, or save her child's? USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Steena Holmes brings us an unforgettable story of one woman's courage and love.
My review:
I liked this book, but I didn't love it. The reason why I didn't love it precludes me from giving it the most fair review, but I'm going to give it a shot and hopefully my readers can make up their own minds. The main character in this book wants a child. Not just a child, but her OWN child, and herein lies the rub. I am an adoptive mom. When it was discovered that I would not be able to have children, my husband and I turned to adoption, without hesitation. A child is a child! Claire goes into a major depression because she can't have a child, even though her husband suggests adoption (and seems, like us, to be perfectly comfortable with it). If you don't like the main character in this story, it kind of loses its appeal. I did understand the huge burden of how to deal with the pregnancy once her illness is diagnosed (and I'm not saying I would not have handled things in the exact same way), but by this point she just annoyed me and I never got on board. What I did like about it was the fact that they wrote and illustrated children's books. This was a fun career to think about. Despite my misgivings about Claire, I loved her husband Josh, and the end of the book definitely tugs on the heartstrings.
I'm sure that this book will have a lot of appeal to those who may not be quite so close to the subject (and quite so judgemental!), so please read some other reviews before you take my word for it.
This book is one of the June picks for the BookSparks summer reading challenge. Follow the link to join in the fun this summer!
I feel the rub. I'm an adoptive parent, too and can't fathom that I didn't give birth to my son, even though I know I didn't. He's my own son, so I can feel your rub on this one. With that said, the premise of this one really is appealing because of the heartfelt decisions that have to be made. Great (and fair) review.
It was a good book but I think a lot of the appeal centered on Claire, and since I was annoyed with her, I couldn't appreciate it as much as other reviews I've seen.