Yvonne‘THE IDEA OF YOU‘ by AMANDA PROWSE
FIRST LINES / BOOK BEGINNINGS
PROLOGUE
‘Are you nervous, sweetie?’
She whipped her head towards the kindly voice of the woman who had entered the room, and nodded. Her breath came in short bursts. Her fringe was stuck to her forehead in fine, damp wisps.
The woman smiled, her slow, patient manner welcome, calming. ‘Well, it’s easy to say, but don’t be. We have done this a million times before.’ She patted Lucy’s narrow shoulder before walking away with a squeak to her shoe and a swish of her skirt….
ONE
Today, Lucy felt a little like an imposter in the house of God. Christenings made her feel especially uncomfortable. Being asked to be a godparent was, however, an honour, a great responsibility, and one she hoped she would shoulder well.
She glanced at Benedict, the beautiful baby boy in his mother’s arms, on this, his special day. As she smiled at his gummy face, self-doubt hammered inside her head. Supposing this baby grew up to be a reprobate; would that be her fault? Surely not. It had always been her belief that how a child turned out was down to three things: parents, environment and schooling. This, she felt, would exonerate her nicely should the need arise. Not that she could picture him being anything less than wonderful. He was far too cute….
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THE PREMISE
What if the one thing you want is the only thing you can’t have?
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?
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Hmm… perhaps Lucy is about to undergo some fertility process in the prologue? I’m not sure this is a storyline that interests me for a variety of reasons. My thoughts on motherhood aren’t always the most conventional and I realize it’s a very personal issue. So maybe I’ll just leave it at that! 😉
As a non parent myself, I certainly don’t have room to talk or to pass opinion – although I still do on numerous occasions, but only generally amongst friends or family.
I think that conventional is probably the best word to describe me also and I seldom accept anything which isn’t black or white – no grey areas for thought in my world I’m afraid!
There are so many options about what poor Lucy seems to be going thorugh in the prologue extract. By the time we get to the premise, it seems quite clear that Lucy doesn’t have any children of her own, so as you suggest, fertility treatment may be one option.
Maybe the Lucy in the prologue is a much younger version than in the main story, so perhaps she is enduring a forced abortion.
Of course, it may be that as a young person, she is in labour to deliver a baby she is not going to be allowed to keep.
Any of the above may, or of course, may not be, what is going on in reality, so motherhood notwithstanding, I am keen to read on and solve the puzzle.
Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by 🙂
Hi Yvonne! I loved this book, so I am sure you’ll find it interesting! 😉
Here is mine this week: http://bit.ly/Fri56Tooth
Have a lovely weekend! x
It is still showing as being on your ‘Goodreads Wish List’, so it good to know that you have both read and enjoyed this book.
Although the overall star rating is quite high, it seems from reading the individual comments and reviews that this is a book that you either love or hate, so I can’t wait to read for myself what exactly might be so controversial.
Thanks for stopping by and Happy Reading this weekend 🙂
Interesting snippets and I think Lucy is at the doctor’s office since the woman has a ‘squeak to her shoe’ so I’m thinking that is the doctor or nurse.
Enjoy this one and have a nice weekend 🙂
And yet, later on in chapter one, we find Lucy at her godson’s christening and clearly childless herself. But then, the premise of the book, hints that Lucy and Jonah may have the opportunity to have a baby of their own, so are the two events linked in some way? Perhaps something happens to baby Benedict’s parents and Lucy is asked to step into her role as godmother and care for him?
Oh! how we do love to speculate!
Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend. We are in the middle of a heatwave here and to be honest I am avoiding outdoors at all costs, as the sun and I are not the best of friends 🙂
Sounds interesting. An author I’ve heard of but not yet delved into her books.
I too have a couple of Amanda’s books on my shelves and have featured one or two as part of publisher Blog Tours, although I have yet to read any of them.
It does seem that many of her storylines involve marriage and relationships, in one guise or another, so I can imagine that they are going to be pretty emotional reads.
Amanda also lives down in the west country and I enjoy supporting local authors, so that’s another incentive for me to read her books as soon as!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope that all is well with you 🙂