![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
"Nobody's Child" by Austin Boyd
Dec. 29th, 2011 05:08 pmEarlier this year I wrote about some of my favorites on my bookshelf, the Mars Hill Classified trilogy by Austin Boyd. Those were the author's first releases and I've kept an eye open for any others over the past few years. When "Nobody's Child" came out I was very excited and waited anxiously for time and availability to read it myself. All I knew was that this was the first in a series about bioethics, which had been a minor plotline in the Mars Hill books.
Laura Ann McGehee is a determined young lady. When her only parent is diagnosed with cancer and taking out a loan against the West Virginia farm which has been in their family for centuries is not going to be enough to cover medical expenses, Laura Ann makes a tough and secret decision. She goes to a fertility clinic and begins taking medication to hyperstimulate her ovaries, so that her eggs can be harvested and she can continue supporting her family through the payments she receives there. When her father dies, Laura Ann becomes the sole owner of a farm that she is going to have to fight tooth and nail to keep. At 20 years old, she feels very much alone.
But she's not alone. There's a young man whom she grew up with whom she is suddenly seeing with new eyes. Ian, the game warden, has been drawn to Laura Ann for years. She isn't sure she can ever let him know that she is selling part of herself to keep things afloat. A wise neighbor offers lots of support, but she knows something isn't right with Laura Ann. She can see the guilt which is wrapping itself around Laura Ann's heart.
When a stranger shows up at the farm, pregnant with a child who was conceived using Laura Ann's eggs, things change dramatically for our young heroine. That is her son growing inside another woman's body. Through a dramatic series of events, Laura Ann must fight for custody once the baby is born. But whose child is he? The child of the mother who carried him in her body? Laura Ann's child? The sperm donor's child? As the tagline of the book states, "What price will a mother pay to save her only son?" Laura Ann must decide if will risk everything... her reputation, her livelihood, even her love.
I found that the book started off very slowly for me. The writing style threw me off, too, as it was far more pastoral than the author's first three books. It suit the setting but also took a little bit of getting used to. While I felt the story took its time in coming together, once it got started it was quite engrossing. At the same time, it was such a good story and written so well that I found myself waiting to finish it so I could draw out the reading process.
My one concern as I read the book was that Laura Ann was commended more than once for her "brave" act of donating her eggs. I was wondering how exactly I would approach that when I wrote a review. But by the end there was no doubt where the author stood on the subject and clearly shown to be something not to be done lightly or just for kicks or even for the reasons that drove Laura Ann there in the first place. I was relieved and I hope anyone who reads the book will take its warning seriously.
"Nobody's Child" is the first in the "Pandora Files" series from Zondervan.
Laura Ann McGehee is a determined young lady. When her only parent is diagnosed with cancer and taking out a loan against the West Virginia farm which has been in their family for centuries is not going to be enough to cover medical expenses, Laura Ann makes a tough and secret decision. She goes to a fertility clinic and begins taking medication to hyperstimulate her ovaries, so that her eggs can be harvested and she can continue supporting her family through the payments she receives there. When her father dies, Laura Ann becomes the sole owner of a farm that she is going to have to fight tooth and nail to keep. At 20 years old, she feels very much alone.
But she's not alone. There's a young man whom she grew up with whom she is suddenly seeing with new eyes. Ian, the game warden, has been drawn to Laura Ann for years. She isn't sure she can ever let him know that she is selling part of herself to keep things afloat. A wise neighbor offers lots of support, but she knows something isn't right with Laura Ann. She can see the guilt which is wrapping itself around Laura Ann's heart.
When a stranger shows up at the farm, pregnant with a child who was conceived using Laura Ann's eggs, things change dramatically for our young heroine. That is her son growing inside another woman's body. Through a dramatic series of events, Laura Ann must fight for custody once the baby is born. But whose child is he? The child of the mother who carried him in her body? Laura Ann's child? The sperm donor's child? As the tagline of the book states, "What price will a mother pay to save her only son?" Laura Ann must decide if will risk everything... her reputation, her livelihood, even her love.
I found that the book started off very slowly for me. The writing style threw me off, too, as it was far more pastoral than the author's first three books. It suit the setting but also took a little bit of getting used to. While I felt the story took its time in coming together, once it got started it was quite engrossing. At the same time, it was such a good story and written so well that I found myself waiting to finish it so I could draw out the reading process.
My one concern as I read the book was that Laura Ann was commended more than once for her "brave" act of donating her eggs. I was wondering how exactly I would approach that when I wrote a review. But by the end there was no doubt where the author stood on the subject and clearly shown to be something not to be done lightly or just for kicks or even for the reasons that drove Laura Ann there in the first place. I was relieved and I hope anyone who reads the book will take its warning seriously.
"Nobody's Child" is the first in the "Pandora Files" series from Zondervan.
