I was hooked from the first page of "The Nearness of You" and thought I was going to love this book. However, the ending was a little disappointing. I felt the book ended too quickly and really wanted to know what happened at the end. I would still highly recommend the book because it was well written and did keep my interest until the end.

An emotional read...thanks for sharing w/ me...have shared it w/ my reading circle and library.

A quick read that had my emotions in overdrive! Loved the plot twist ...The characters were well developed for a shorter length novel. Loved it

An interesting read, though slightly predictable. Not the best book I've read recently.

It was just OK!  I will not remember it.  Not alot of body in the book.  Will not leave an impression of any kind.  Unfortunatly I have read a few of her other books and felt the same way.

Touching story which sheds a little light on the struggles of surrogacy, for all involved. Also touches upon how sometimes what we didn't think we wanted, we really do.

Suzette is brillant at her job. She adores her husband. But, she doesn't want to have kids as she's afraid they'll inherit her own mother's mental weakness. Yet, she finally agrees to go along with her husband, Hyland, as he seeks to find a surrogate mother.

The surrogate mother, Dorrie, seems eager to help this couple. Her main motivation is money to escape a life of near poverty. But, she then has second thoughts while pregnant with the child. 

The author does a wonderful job of telling the story from all parties eyes, including the daughter of Hyland and Dorrie. And, how we are all connected even if there is not the genetics to 'back it up.

The Nearness of You by Amanda Eyre Ward provides an interesting look into the world of surrogate parenting through three different perspectives.  I thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Ward's writing style and found I was quickly drawn into the characters and their story.   This was a very good story line, well thought out and well delivered.  It reminded me a bit of Jodi Picoult.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I tried to like this book, but found the characters too shallow and self-involved. Even though the story did not move forward in a compelling manor (too many time jumps) I continued reading in an effort to care about any of the characters.  In the end, I did not even sense any maternal bond between Suzette and Eloise, so the book's conclusion seemed contrived.

I give this 4.5/5 hearts.

I received a good news yesterday but it wasn't exactly what I wanted. I am grateful but I just wished it was more. Well, beggars can't be choosers but I have waited for this news to come for so long. It felt like forever and I was shocked and a bit sad when it came. I was dumbfounded and couldn't believe it. It was like almost but not quite. Long story short, I said yes. I took it hoping there is a reason why this is what was given to me. Hopefully, far greater things than I ever imagined will come from it. Nothing is finalized yet and maybe, if I keep praying hard for it, it will be just as I have terribly wanted. I actually wish I could have a do-over. Rewind the events that happened yesterday and I will handle the situation differently so the outcome would be exactly as I have longed for. Life...oftentimes you will have to make lemonade out of lemons not the margaritas you crave.

This book is quite similar to what I have experienced yesterday. Sorry for the outburst. I just want to take that out of my chest. I can actually fill the whole post of my ramblings. Anyway, this book is about some decisions or events that we have no control of. Events that just went out of our hands and we are watching them unfold with our eyes open, too shocked and paralyzed to do anything about it. Exactly what I lived through yesterday. This book is about women. The pains and the strength needed to withstand the pains only women experience. This is also about motherhood. The pains and joy of motherhood. Of the hardships of trying to fulfill that calling.

The Nearness of You is a story of three women --Suzette, Dorothy and Eloise. Suzette a successful heart surgeon who doesn't want to have a baby because she doesn't want to pass on the mental illness her mother had to her children. Dorothy, the surrogate mother who volunteered to carry Suzette's and Hyland's fertilized embryo. Eloise, Suzette and Hyland's daughter who was delivered by Dorothy. These three women's lives are more entangled than they thought they were. Dorothy's connection to Suzette and Eloise did not stop until she gave birth and give up the kid, it went farther and deeper than that which what this whole story is. 

Stepping into the shoes of each of the three characters, I found that each person's convictions are valid and very reasonable. Suzette's fears are not unfounded and baseless. Being a medical practitioner and a brilliant one at that, she doubtlessly knows that her fears could very likely happen. She needed to put an end to the cycle of mental illness in her family by bearing the sacrifice. Dorothy, out of her desperation and the need to escape her current life, signed up to be a surrogate mother. Little did she know that she signed up way far more than she was paid for. And Eloise, the tie that bind between the two other women that could never be severed. It was Eloise that will eventually bring healing and closure to all the unresolved business between Suzette and Dorothy. All these women and the rest of the lives involved in their circle will finally live the rest of their good lives with a better understanding of what happened and will move onward to the future with large smiles.

I really love women's literature. Stories of strong and invincible women. Strong and resilient women who follow their hearts and come out greater for the heartbreaking decisions they had to face in their lives. I too want to be inspired by these women. That maybe I could gain wisdom from their difficult experiences. I too have my own struggles, like every other person in this planet and we all could use all the help we can get. 

This story will hit you right at your core. This will turn you heart into a melting puddle. Aching and disintegrating into liquid goo. What these three women have gone through could very well happen in real life. It might be that some woman in some city or small town is living through the same scenario as we speak. Like Suzette, juggling her successful career with taking care of a kid. Attending parent-teacher conferences, recitals, soccer games or cheer leading competitions, etc. Trying with her every breath to be a mother, a wife and a surgeon, along with some other roles demanded of her. Dorothy, keeping a low profile and not draw attention to herself and her family. Making the most out of a very hard and poor past to care for the people she value most. Trying to make good of the present to pay for the shortcomings she had made in the past. And Eloise, a teenager in the threshold of great possibilities yet unable to face them because something is holding her back. Something is niggling her to do something. To find answers to questions that she's scared to ask. To find the person who brought her into the light of the world. To find that connection that keeps her restless until she has rekindled it. 

And then, there was also Jayne, the little girl Dorothy crossed path with who was far mature and stronger than her measly young age. She also had a difficult and sad life. She and Dorothy found friendship, strength and family in each other. 

I love this story. I give this 4.5/5 hearts. All these strong women are worthy of emulation. They had been through a lot and they came out of the dark holes of their past with courage and strength they thought they never had. My only wish was that there should have been more in the ending. I wished it showed how the rest of the characters were after the meeting and the revelation. I wanted to see Eloise reconnected with one of the important person in her life. I wanted to know how it turned out knowing there's another part of her that is alive and living. 

After this story, I want to know more of Amanda Eyre Ward. I want to know what other stories she has to tell. I will have to start hunting her books. Nice meeting you Miss Ward. What a great story.


Don't be the change, be the dollar.
- Amanda Eyre Ward, The Nearness of You -  



Thanks again, Netgalley for the copy of this book.

The Nearness of You by Amanda Eyre Ward explores what it means to be a mother.  Does nature or nurture make a mom?  Suzette is afraid to give birth to a child due to genetic issues.  Her husband, Hyland, decides he wants a child and suggests they use a surrogate.  This is when Dorrie enters their lives.  A very young Dorrie becomes a surrogate for Suzette and Hyland.  She is implanted with embryos that are a combination of her and Hyland's genes.

The novel skips large portions of time and we are introduced to a teenage Eloise.  Eloise is tormented wondering about her birth mother.  This story at its core is the story of Eloise and her journey to learning what comprises a mother.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

https://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/nearness-you

This book was decent but it didn't really stand out for me. It was an interesting story and really delved into the character's feelings. But it seemed very unrealistic to me that people of Hyland and Suzette's stature and wealth would have been unable to track Dorrie down after she disappeared. It also seemed like a very sudden and rash decision to send Eloise to boarding school when up until that point she was a model child. I can see this being a popular book club book for the discussions is raises about what makes a mother.

I was hooked from the first scene. Having been a surrogate myself, some of the emotions and thoughts hit close to home. What an interesting and fascinating story!

I enjoyed this book!  I liked the way family relationships were portrayed throughout the book.  And I liked how the author displayed mental illnesses and drug addictions in an honest and graphic manner.  This story is about Hyland and Suzette’s marriage.  They decide to use a surrogate to have a baby.  The surrogate they choose is Dorrie.  What follows this decision is a whirlwind chain of events involving all of the characters in the story.  So many things happened throughout the story that I did not expect.  The story explores relationships between people, most importantly the relationship between a parent and a child.  And how our parents affect our lives and our future.  Suzette is a heart surgeon.  I found the fragility of heart surgery to be a tie in to the fragility of the relationship between a parent and child.  I felt that the characters are fully developed, although there is still so much we learn about them.  The baby and Dorrie’s story are told in the first person, everyone else’s in the third person.  This book would be great for a book club to read.  The relationships and events would be very good topics of conversation.

Amanda Eyre Ward’s book THE SAME SKY was my favorite book of 2015. Its themes of immigration and poverty gave the reader plenty to think about regarding their views and judgments. In her newest, THE NEARNESS OF YOU, readers try to understand a pediatric heart surgeon who didn't really want to have children and definitely doesn’t want to become pregnant. Suzette ultimately agrees to surrogacy when her husband, Hyland, nearing forty, decides that he desperately wants a child. They’ve chosen Dorrie, a young woman looking for a chance to get away from her own mother, go to college, and start a new life. Then, on the date of her sonogram appointment, Dorrie disappears leaving an apology note. Suzette must wrestle with the fact that maybe she really did want the baby, how to comfort her husband who is devastated, and stay focused to complete some of the most meticulous surgeries.

Hyland and Suzette are two professionals who have a comfortable marriage and rely on routine. Everything was fine until Hyland upset the apple cart and decided he really did want to be a father. Suzette goes along with the idea even though it gives her a lot of anxiety during the process of choosing a surrogate. The author takes each chapter and gives us the perspective of individual characters, taking us inside their minds and revealing what they are really thinking. Even though I was drawn into the story, I didn't particularly like any of the characters which made it hard to feel connected to their struggles. Some of the chapters felt like whining to me and Suzette's story seemed to focus more on the details of her surgeries rather than her relationship with her husband. Dorrie's character had potential, but I found most of her decisions to be unrealistic and frustrating.

When there is a twist and the storyline takes a new direction, I found I had a bit more interest in the story. Suzette is no longer able to control her and Hyland's monotonous life and she has to start showing some emotions. She begins to have trouble concentrating during her surgeries and life has complications that she can't seem to handle. As each of the characters is forced to make a decision, the reader realizes that one choice can impact the course of your whole life. For these three main characters and the child they bring into this world, life will never be the same.

Even though this story wasn't as emotionally heartbreaking as her previous novel, Eyre Ward still showcases her character-driven writing and talents for giving the characters their own voice. From the disgusting motel that Dorrie lives in. to the stark operating room that Suzette thrives in, readers can visualize the scenes and feel part of the story. But, there may be a disappointment in the predictability of the plot. While nearing the end of the book, I realized that it was going to have to be a rushed ending to fit it all in and it was. On its own, it's a fine story, but when comparing it to the author's others, it falls a little flat.

Favorite Quotes:

"You meet kind people, and you return their kindness.
That's what friendship is. You take care of someone and they become yours."

"You never know when you will be forced 
to make the decision that will define your days."

Amanda Eyre Ward provides an interesting look into the world of surrogate parenting through 3 different perspectives.  The characters have depth and early on, I became sympathetic to their circumstances, but they could be so unlikeable at times. 

Reading this book made me more aware and sympathetic to issues that may crop up in surrogacy. Overall, a good story line and well thought out.

When Suzette and Hyland Kendall first got together, they agreed that they’d never have children. Suzette’s mother is bipolar with psychotic episodes, robbing Suzette of a childhood and predisposing her for her own mental illness. It’s a genetic trait Suzette doesn’t want to pass on. Her husband, Hyland, lost his parents and sister in a tragic car accident when he was eleven and hasn’t given up on trying to change his wife’s mind. After all, why wouldn’t a woman want to become a mother? Finally, the couple agrees on surrogacy: Hyland’s sperm, the surrogate’s egg, and the surrogate would carry the baby.

After a few false starts, they finally find what they believe is the perfect surrogate: Dorrie, a 21-year-old who needs the $35,000 surrogacy fee to follow her collegiate dreams. For architect Hyland and world-renowned heart surgeon Suzette, money is no object and they spare no expense. But when Dorrie doesn’t show up to the first sonogram, the Kendall’s fear the worst.

Dorrie finds herself in New Orleans, living in a house forgotten after Katrina with a 12-year-old runaway as her only company. Years after the baby is born, we re-visit the prologue where two women and a man stand beside a girl in a hospital room with a nurse asking, “Who is her mother?”

With twists and turns reminiscent of Gone Girl and “Grey’s Anatomy,” The Nearness of You is a lyrical, literary journey exploring the bonds of family and what it means to be a mother. Further, Ward raises the question of who should become a mother, if they had the choice, and whether or not it’s a woman’s job to become a mother.

Actual rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Nearness of You is a story about a couple, Hyland and Suzette who was married for fifteen happy years. But Hyland, longing for a child suggested an alternative way for him and Suzette to have a child until their normal lives suddenly had a twist of its own. She told him early on their relationship that she didn't have plans of having one because of fear that she'll pass the genes of her mother to her own children. Suzette firmly told Hyland that she wanted the sickness to end with her. So, the best chance for conception Hyland thought of was traditional surrogacy. Here's how Dorrie came into the picture. She agreed to do it and for what reason? Money . And for her it meant a bigger life and a better one.

The source of issue in this novel is both complicated and challenging. Surrogacy is a choice. It entails a great deal of emotions – love.

"I could take the money and step forward into a life I now knew would be incomplete, a black hole at its center, the missing space of you. Or I could pack what little I cared about into a suitcase and run.

It was love versus money, in the end, my dear baby girl.

I chose love."

The story was told in a shifting perspective of Hyland, Suzette and Dorrie (more or less like a diary or a letter). But it felt like watching telanovelas with the same story and characters over and over again. The plot twists were expected and the element of surprise was somehow misplaced. There were times I got more lengthy description of Suzette's job as a surgeon and characters with insignificant contributions to the story. Though I love the special attention it gave to motherhood and the unexpected abrupt ending that leave the readers either relieved or confused. Overall, I still like it with bits and pieces of insights, feelings and realization but it's hardly not for everyone.

***Thank you NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, and Amanda Eyre Ward for offering me an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review!
***The review of this has also been posted on goodreads.

The Nearness of You by Amanda Eyre Ward is a quick read that will leave you pondering the fates of the main characters long after you've finished reading it.  Suzette is a heart surgeon with a very high stress career.  Having long ago decided with her husband that they would not have children her husband then surprises her by announcing that he actually would like to become a father.  They ultimately decide to go the route of surrogacy which then leads them on a long journey that doesn't quite take the path that they had envisioned.  Told through varying narratives this tale has you re-imagining the idea of family.  Enjoy!

Suzette Kendall is a workaholic heart surgeon. Husband, Hyland Kendall is an unhappy architect. Both agreed not to have children, because Suzette has terrible memories of growing up with a severely mentally ill mother. She won't take any chances with her genes. But Hyland lost his parents and sister in a car accident when he was 11 and has never given up his secret desire to have children.
In Amanda Eyre Ward's new novel, THE NEARNESS of YOU (Ballantine), Hyland is able to get Suzette to agree to hiring a surrogate and that's when they meet Dorothy "Dorrie" Muscarello. 21-year-old, Dorrie plans to use the $35,000 fee to escape her sad existence and job feeding penguins at Sea-O-Rama and pursue a college education. Once pregnant, Dorrie realizes she doesn't want to give the baby up to the Kendall's and she skips town.
Twists, turns, a jump in time and soon readers find themselves bedside with a nearly-dead teenage lying in a hospital with two women and a man standing by her bed.
 “Which of you is her mother?” asks the nurse, but nobody seems to be able to answer the question.
The narrative alternates between character's perspectives, as Ward brilliantly explores the meanings of motherhood from the first hello to the possibility of saying good-bye. THE NEARNESS of YOU explores the connections we form, the families we create and the love we hold most dear.