by Kristan Higgins

The familiar surge of anger and love for her teenage son stabbed at her. Her boy, her beautiful, precious son, had not included her in one of the most important moments of his life. The little shit.

“Thank God for you, Harlow,” Mom would sigh once in a while. “I never have to spare you a thought.” It might have been a compliment.

In this, her 23rd book, Kristan returns to Wellfleet, Massachusetts (a real place) the setting of Out of The Clear Blue Sky. This is not the first time that she has set more than one book in the same town and consequently, we have had the pleasure of catching up with some old acquaintances.

This book was terrific and, In my opinion, even better than OOTCBS. The romance took more center stage in this one, though the book is not a romance book. I liked the guy better. It seemed like there was more to him and he seemed more important to the story. With its many strands, this one dug deeper, had many more layers, and though funny, not so comical (not that the former book did not have its serious side.) We are treated to one of the hilariously disastrous blind dates that Kristan seems to include in most of her books. Poor Harlow.

“How about you?” I asked. “What do you like to read?” “I’m not much of a reader,” he said. So he was dead inside. Got it.

No, not a reader, but he is a talented poet. On his ex-wife:

Pete cleared his throat. “ ‘You ruined my life. I thought you’d be my forever wife.’ ” Definitely should’ve asked to record it. “ ‘But you brought me strife. Like a sharp and hacking knife. Cutting through my heart. Instead of cherishing it like a piece of art. And pierced it with a dart.’ ” He glanced at me to see if I was paying attention. I was. “ ‘You are still in my head. But now I dream of you dead.’ ” I almost cracked on the last line, but kept my expression neutral. After all, the serial killer odds had skyrocketed.

Lately, Kristan has been centering her books around big dramatic topics including morbid obesity and body dysmorphia, terminal illness, infidelity, and dissolution of long-term happy marriages. Toxic, or at least, troublesome parenting has always been a mainstay. In this, she tackles adoption. It was an education. I never really gave a lot of thought to how giving up a child for adoption could be so emotionally devastating for such a long time. Even if it is the best and wisest decision for the good of all concerned, as it usually is. And how the love and connection between birth-parent and child can endure. The challenges of being an adopted child are explored as well, though not in the depth that the mothers’ are explored. If the adoptive parents are wonderful and loving and in an optimal financial situation, there can still be troubles. At first, all of the feelings seemed a little over the top, but Kristan did her research.

The primary voice in this novel is that of Harlow, a 35-year-old single bookstore owner who gave her baby up for adoption when she was 17. Her dream comes true when he finds her and wants to get to know her. She is ecstatic. Not so ecstatic are his adoptive parents, Monica and Sanjay Patel. Although they have always been open and supportive of their son one day finding his birth mother (with whom they once had a mutually loving relationship), they are blindsided by the situation, thanks to their son Matthew’s typically teenage thoughtlessness in how he goes about reconnecting. But as the Patels and Harlow and her family get to know each other everything goes fairly smoothly. After all, everyone involved is civilized, educated, and goodhearted. Of course, there are hiccups and stormy waters. Harlow’s parents are angry and hurt that she has kept her son a secret all these years.

“Mom. Dad. I did what I thought was right for my baby. If you can’t respect that, well, maybe you’re not who I thought you were. Addison and Nicole, if all you care about is Esme being the oldest, you won’t lay eyes on my boy. Grandpop, Robbie and Winnie . . . you’ve been great.”
“Maybe you’re not who we thought you were, either, Harlow,” Dad said. “And who did you think I was, Dad? Huh?” My voice was loud, and I felt hot all over. “Mom? Who was I in this family? Your unpaid nanny? Aside from me being the helpful one, I was . . . nothing. I was barely there….
Grandpop stood up, his knees popping. “Harlow is a wonderful person,” he said. “She did her best under very difficult circumstances. If she chose not to take her problems to us, well, maybe we need to do some soul-searching.

Indeed some soul-searching is called for on their part, which they do. One of the almost too many themes is how one’s place and role in the family affects your life and decisions. Grandpop is a delight and the source of much of the humor in this book. And I love how his incipient dementia is handled by his family and friends. There are many side characters, each deftly drawn, including Harlow’s siblings, her loyal best friend Rosie, Grandpop’s girlfriend Frances, and Grady and his daughter Luna. And not to mention the dog. Yes, all goes pretty well as Matthew, his Mom and Dad, and his precocious sister Meena spend the summer in Wellfleet. Until Matthew drops a bomb on his family and Harlow too this time, towards the end of vacation when it’s time to go home to California.

Harlow’s perspective is alternated with Monica’s point of view and also a 50-something distant cousin, Cynthia, who is part owner of the bookstore and was also adopted.
Cynthia gives an alternate perspective on adoption. Although she loved her adoptive mother and father and they loved her, she would have been a happier and better person had she been able to be raised by her birth parents. I hated going to her viewpoint because she was just so nasty and unpleasant until about the halfway point when some interesting changes started to happen in her life. Every time it came to Cynthia’s part in the tale, It made me tense up. Could Cynthia’s section have been left out of this 500+ page novel? Maybe. But her story provided a good bit of good tension and suspense. And ultimately her character arc was heartwarming as well as providing another thought-provoking adoption experience.

Monica is in the high-tension Internet Security field and the main breadwinner of the two-income Patel family allowing them to have a very affluent lifestyle. But it has resulted in an imbalance in their marriage and a lot of stress and pressure on Monica. She and Sanjay are very happily married, but Sanjay is the laid-back “fun parent” and Monica is the enforcer. I love how things are finally righted, both in her marriage and her career. Female empowerment is alive and well. It is through Monica that we gain most of the insight into Matthew’s character. Although he is mostly a good kid and will turn out fine, we know early on he is not exactly “ a Ray of Sunshine”.

Of course, I have some quibbles. **a little spoilery** Although it did move the story and the drama forward, I was very disappointed in how Harlow handled the crisis at the end of the book. I felt it was out of character for her to go against Monica and Sanjay’s wishes no matter how much she yearned to be Mommy. I didn’t like how she shut down part of her life to provide Matthew a perfect little cocoon while he was staying with her. It wasn’t real and it wasn’t wise. A dose of reality would have been good for him. I didn’t understand what was behind her thinking that she couldn’t be with Grady long term because she would somehow harm his child just because she chose adoption for Matthew. Rosie’s alcoholism side story seemed needless in an already long book. I’m just speaking objectively because, bottom line, If the book had been twice as long, I still would have enjoyed every page. I just love her stories and her writing.

Perhaps addiction will be her next big topic and the previously mentioned character will feature in that one. Pure speculation, but I wouldn’t be a bit surprised. I would return to Wellfleet in a heartbeat.