THE TEN YEAR NAP (Meg Wolitzer)

Since the feminist revolution of the 1960's, it seems like mothers have had a choice between feeling guilty over working or feeling guilty over neglecting fulfilling careers to stay home and raise their children.  Meg Wolitzer's "Ten Year Nap" is about 4 New York based women who have made the choice to give up careers, some promising, others not, to devote their lives to their families. 

Amy is a Trusts & Estates lawyer and the daughter of an ardent feminist and an economics professor.  She and her husband, Leo, met and fell in love at the law firm where they both worked.  When their now 10-year-old son, Mason, was born they decided that Amy would give up work for a couple of years to raise their baby.  Two years stretched to ten and now Amy, believing that their finances are stable, is considering volunteer work. 

Amy's friend Roberta is a failed-artist-turned-puppeteer.  She and her husband, Nathaniel, also a puppeteer, live with their two children in a family owned apartment in the city.  Karen and Wilson Yip are MIT-educated mathematicians with twin sons.  This couple is successful and financially comfortable and Karen's choice to stay at home with her two boys is applauded by both of their traditional Chinese families.  Jill, whose doctoral thesis was rejected and whose mother committed suicide while Jill was in college, welcomes the opportunity to stay at home with her adopted daughter, Nadia, instead of trying to figure out how to live up to the promise of her Vivian Swope Award, honoring her as the student in her prep school class most likely to achieve success.  Jill and her husband have moved to the suberb of Holly Hills, NY, where she feels isolated from her friends and depressed by the fact that her daughter seems "different", perhaps intellectually slow.

Throughout this novel the reader is introduced to various characters from the past and present that have helped to form the fears and values of the four women.  Chapters featuring mothers, lovers, friends, colleagues, and even Margaret Thatcher, are interspersed throughout the book, giving us insight into where these women came from and where they might choose to go next.  This novel is a story about difficult choices and the balancing act that is everyday life for parents.  I would recommend it to anyone who has ever witnessed, considered, or lived through the process of raising child while dealing with the pressures of maintaining friendships and living up to societal expectations.  I think that the title is genius!