4-Star Review of "The Idea of You"

Review of the idea of you

by Amanda Prowse

With her fortieth birthday approaching, Lucy Carpenter thinks she finally has it all: a wonderful new husband, Jonah, a successful career and the chance of a precious baby of her own. Life couldn’t be more perfect.

But becoming parents proves much harder to achieve than Lucy and Jonah imagined, and when Jonah’s teenage daughter Camille comes to stay with them, she becomes a constant reminder of what Lucy doesn’t have. Jonah’s love and support are unquestioning, but Lucy’s struggles with work and her own failing dreams begin to take their toll. With Camille’s presence straining the bonds of Lucy’s marriage even further, Lucy suddenly feels herself close to losing everything…

This heart-wrenchingly poignant family drama from bestselling author Amanda Prowse asks the question: in today’s hectic world, what does it mean to be a mother?

MY REVIEW:  Wanting a child with your husband is a reasonable desire and Lucy wants a baby very badly.  She and Jonah conceive three times, with each conception ending in miscarriage in the first trimester.  Lucy is heartbroken.  Jonah is upset but already has a teenage daughter from his previous marriage.  His teenage daughter comes for the summer at Lucy's urging, but things are not so great between Lucy and Camille. Learning to live together proves challenging.  
         I definitely relate to wanting a child so badly. I felt that I could not bear to live if I did not have a child of my own when I first married at age eighteen.  I now realize that I could have lived a fulfilling life without children, but the young me did not feel that way.  I did have a miscarriage scare when I was early in my marriage and it was devastating to me.  I became absolutely hysterical once I was away from the doctor.  I really enjoyed this book and I felt it handled infertility and adoption well, but I am very emotional and I cry while reading many books and seeing movies, and I only cried once briefly during the reading of this book.  I just felt that the author did not quite hit that deep part of me that completely connected with the characters, Lucy and Camille in particular.  I really liked Lucy.  I felt great empathy for Camille.  I just felt something was missing in the emotions of the characters.  I needed MORE.  The final portion of the book seemed to cover too many loose ends in a quick fashion and left some important details out.  
          I highly recommend this book and think readers will anxiously return to finish the book as I did.   I give this book a 4 star rating.
          I received a copy of this book from netgalley and I was not required to write a positive review.   All opinions expressed are my own.   

About the Author:

Amanda Prowse was a management consultant for ten years before realising that she was born to write. Amanda lives in the West Country with her husband and their two teenage sons.