By Liane Moriarty

‘Oh, Sophie.’ Gretel sits upright and agitatedly pats her shoulder. ‘Sweetheart! Of course there’s time! We just have to fix this! I didn’t realise it meant so much to you, darling. I’m so stupid! I thought you were happy being a career girl. Oh, dear, how can we fix this?’ She looks around her frantically, as if a spare baby is likely to go floating by any second and she can quickly scoop it up and hand it over to Sophie.

**Sort of generally spoilery as far as whether it has a “happy” ending, though no specifics.**
I enjoyed this book and had no major problems with it as I did with two of her other books I gave 3 stars to. I do suggest that readers start making a family tree early on. Until I did so, I kept getting confused about who was who and how they were related to each other. Just a tip.

I would recommend this early work to Liane Moriarty fans but not if you must have tension, nail-biting suspense, or mind-boggling twists and reveals. Not a lot of darkness in this one. Although her portrait of Claire who was damaged but not ruined by her childhood and is in the grips of Post-Natal Depression was heartbreaking. It is pretty slow-moving. It has gentle humor, and deft characterizations (two people, in particular, are not as black as they are painted at first.) The Monroe baby mystery is not so mysterious, but there is a decent surprise at the very end. I only wish Rose had not washed her floor after her masterpiece. All of the characters’ fates end hopefully and satisfactorily, though not mapped out and tied with a big bow.

February 24, 2019