Nobody's Child , by Austin Boyd

Paperback, 332 pages

Published August 8th 2011 by Zondervan (first published July 15th 2011)

ISBN

0310328195 (ISBN13: 9780310328193)

edition language

English

 

Nobody’s Child sweeps you into a world where unprecedented choices never intended by heaven lead to unintended consequences never before seen on earth.

Meet… Laura Ann McGehee—Determined to honor her father’s dying request, the young West Virginia woman will do whatever it takes to save the family farm, including using the one remaining financial resource she has—her body.

Sophia McQuistion—Thanks to the unusual sacrifice of a woman she has never met, she carries the child she could never conceive.

Ian Stewart—In Laura Ann’s time of need, he’s more than just a close friend. He is a source of grace, a man who loves Laura Ann through her many trials.

When unusual circumstances place Sophia’s baby in Laura Ann’s care, Laura Ann is now the virgin mother of her own biological son. The media call him “Nobody’s Child.” But somebody wants him badly enough to steal the baby. Weaving together bioethics and faith, Nobody’s Child dramatizes a future that is already upon us with consequences we can no longer avoid

 

My Review

This was the second novel that I had received from the author, and I admit that compared to his other one, H20 I certainly enjoyed it a lot more. I felt that the story line here was a lot more relatable to, in that you were really able to connect to the characters and what it was that they were experience. In the novels you can clearly see that religion is of some importance to the novel as it seems to be a main feature in both of the novels that I have read. In this book however, it was not the main focus, it was merely a shadow guiding the path if you like and that in so many different ways made the book more attractive because I didn't feel like I was being preached to.  Laura Ann seemed like the sort of character that you would want to connect and relate to because you can see that she is the sort of person who is caring and considerate but does not want to go down the path of failure and will therefore do whatever is needed to prove that she can fight her battles alone. The beginning is a little sad because we see her father die. I would say that this piece perhaps a lack of emotion in consideration of her fathers death, but I suppose it is just a novel, nothing more nothing less.

For me, I would probably say that the most irritating part was the fact that the author seemed to repeat her name a little to often. It just seemed to pop up all the time when a she or her would have done. This was only a minor factor though and was not something that made me dislike the novel or the story line. To sum up the basic plot though we have a daughter trying to keep her fathers farm going and to pay of the morgage she has taken out. In order to do so she has given up her eggs to earn more money, and it is a thing that she is ashamed of and has kept secret. We then have uncle jack who really wants to get his hands on the farm and will do anything he can to make her life hell, but he is an abuser who is married to her aunt. Ian is the second guy in the story, a copper who loves and adores Laura ann and over time makes this evident and clear to her. Then finally we have Sophia, the person who recieved the egg donation and is now pregnant.

I felt that the story line and plot really showed and represented how difficult being a donator and a reciever is and that sometimes meeting someone that we never intended to even know about might just be the saving grace in life. I think the book represents a lot of life battles that we often refuse to talk about or acknowledge because it questions what is right and what is wrong from both non religious and religious points of views. This book did have  apoint and story line to it, but I would say there are still faults within it that brought it down a little, such as the fact that the ending felt rushed, that there were characters with a story line behind them who seemed to not be important at all (so why bring them up in the first place?)

I did enjoy the book, a lot better than the first novel that I read by the author, but I still think that his writing style is one that you will either love or hate. for me its somewhere in between. my good heart nature wants to learn to like it but my conflicting personality is not sure it can. either way the author has potential I think and believe, to write something truly mind blowing. perhaps he just needs a lesson from the likes of people of jodi picoult or like wise.

My rating