It's been a while since I read an Emily Giffin novel and now I'm wondering if I missed one or two! I'll have to check.
Deciding to give a child up for adoption, trying to insure that your baby has a better life than you could possibly provide, is a heart-wrenching, life-changing decision. For Marian Caldwell, her guilt about giving up the daughter she gave birth to at age 18 is compounded by the fact that she lied to the baby's father, Conrad Knight, about her pregnancy. She hasn't seen him since she broke off their relationship the day her home pregnancy test result came out positive. Eighteen years later she is a successful New York based television producer and in love with handsome, successful Peter Standish.
Kirby Katherine Rose is a troubled 18-year-old from St. Louis, confused about her future and feeling like a misfit. She was adopted at birth by loving parents, who conceived another daughter just 2 months after bringing Kirby home. Despite her close, loving family, Kirby has always felt like a bit of an outsider, looking different from her parents and sister, and with different talents and interests. As soon as it becomes legally possible, Kirby accesses her adoption records and decides to travel to New York, unbeknownst to anyone but her best friend Belinda, to contact her birth mother, Marian Caldwell. She is relieved that Marian acknowledges and accepts her when she knocks on her door, and the two embark on a rocky emotional journey of mutual (and self) discovery, tying up loose ends from the past and forging new relationships for the future.
One of the things I enjoyed most about Giffin's latest is the positive development of the characters. Each of them is flawed, as humans are, but when confronted with the facts of Kirby's existence each in their own way ultimately reacts with grace and integrity. It may not be completely realistic, and perhaps some would consider Where We Belong to be a bit too positive, but who cares? I enjoyed every minute of this novel.
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