Then Came You: A Novel

Several women, who have lived separate lives from one another, got involved with one common factor: an egg. As stated, this book is an unexpected love story of womanhood. Four women have their unique roles in this story. A woman who wants to be a mother; a woman who wants to support her family by being a mother; a woman who wants to use motherhood to get support; and a woman becomes mother unexpectedly. It involves some twist, but I loved how the story was lead through.

Then Came You is the story of four very different women whose separate longings for family and love place them on a collision path.The story begins with Jules, a beautiful scholarship student at an Ivy League college. Traumatized by a childhood scandal caused by the arrest of her alcoholic father for causing an accident while driving drunk, Jules hates the feeling of people looking at her and finds it difficult to make close friends. A chance encounter in a local mall with a representative of a fertility clinic leads Jules to the decision to sell her eggs and use the money to send her addicted, alcoholic father to a top rate rehabilitation clinic.Annie is a young mother with two small children and a husband who is under-employed. Struggling with bills and frustrated with attempting to stretch their funds too far, Annie considers surrogacy a way to contribute to her family's finances by doing something she is good at--having babies. Her proud husband struggles with his wife carrying someone else's child, and own family is indifferent or not supportive. Annie's efforts to help her family begin to backfire--her husband pulls away as she simultaneously begins to want to make more of herself by starting college.Bettina comes from a wealthy background, and has the best of everything that money can buy. What Bettina wants most, however, is for her divorced parents to reunite and make their family whole again. Her mother has moved to a yoga community and given up material things, while her father continues to work hard and build his fortune. Bettina's dream of her parents reconciling is dashed when her father falls for, and marries, a younger woman.India is a self-made woman, overcoming a childhood where her mother abandoned her twice to become the owner of a successful business. India is a also a strikingly attractive woman, which she's achieved through surgery and constant upkeep. She searches for security, not love, in the form of a wealthy man. A chance meeting with Bettina's father in a Starbucks lands India the wealthy husband she wanted--who unexpectedly turns out to be the love of India's life.India's desire to have a baby and her inability to conceive leads her to a fertility clinic where the lives of these different women suddenly become intertwined by tragedy and the choices they've made. In the end, each finds the family that they longed for, although in completely unexpected ways.The approach of wrapping the story of several different lives around a surrogate pregnancy is unique, and the varying perspectives are what make the story interesting. This is, at its heart, a "feel good" story, and not a deep exploration of some of the challenges and issues of surrogacy, but there is still enough of a thoughtful touch to keep Then Came Your from being superficial.

I don't usually read chick-lit, and I don't consider Jennifer Weiner to be a chick-lit author. She, however, does consider herself to be such an author so I guess she is my exception to my no chick-lit rule. I have read all of her books and liked most of them. As usual, I had this book on pre-order as soon as Amazon had it listed.If I did not have children, I probably would have read Then Came You in one sitting. I was able to read it over about 3 days, which is as good as it gets with me these days. Even though it held my attention, I can't decide if I actually liked this book!On the pro side of the Franklin list for this book, it is completely different from Weiner's other books. While she has wandered from her usual material in the past, she tended to fall a bit flat. Then Came You, on the other hand, is much more successful. It follows four women through the process of surrogacy. There is Annie, a young mother desperate to help her family financially, who decides to become a surrogate. Jules is finishing up at Princeton when she decides to donate her eggs for the money to put her father in a rehab program. India is an older trophy wife who is desperate to hold onto her marriage, and its financial perks, by starting a family. Bettina is India's suspicious and bitter stepdaughter.On the con side, while the characters were all well-written, I didn't feel at home, so to say, with any of them. Bettina was hard to like as was, for the most part, India. Jules was the most interesting of the 4, but she seemed to be the least involved in the main story line. I should have been able to relate most to Annie, but it just wasn't there for me. Still, this flawed quartet did work well together, if not separately.I do know some people who have gone or are going through some form of surrogacy. However, I can't say that I've ever thought that much about it. My guess is that, if one were to participate as either a surrogate or a donor, you would have to be able to emotionally distance yourself from the process. This story, however, shows how difficult that really is. The more I read it, the more I realized how difficult the entire situation could be (and how I would never be able to handle it).I just don't know what to think. The book held my attention, moved me, stayed with me after I finished, but it left me feeling uneasy. Maybe that was the intent? I would recommend this book in a heartbeat, if only to hear what others thought of it.

Really liked this book. Got me interested straight away and read it very quickly. I engaged with the characters and the story line was great. Recommend

Great, many thanks++++++++++

A good book with twists & turns.Characters got bit confusing at first but soon got to know them.Definitely recommend ed.

A nice easy read. Enjoyed it.

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