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, 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