A couple of years ago I had the privilege of reading The Same Sky by this author. I was a big fan of that book (see my review here), so was looking forward to another novel by this author. This one is another gem that I highly recommend. Ms. Ward has a way with characters that makes them leap off the page and you feel like you are immersed in their lives. Even though a couple of these characters were not even that likeable to me, the way they were written still had me feeling emotions and relating to their troubles. This book had me hooked following the lives of these characters. Perhaps because I've been involved in the adoption process, although not using a surrogate, I could relate so much to Suzette and her intense need to protect her child, even without that biological bond. There is even an interesting twist at the end that you can kind of see coming if you are paying close attention.

Despite the end being a bit too tidy and quickly wrapped up, this is definitely another winner from Amanda Eyre Ward. You will love these well written characters.

Suzette and Hyland have a happy marriage and a busy life when Hyland surprises his wife with the news that he really wants a child. Married fifteen years, children had always been off the table, as Suzette did not want to pass on the genes of her mother, a woman who gave Suzette a horrifying and unstable childhood and eventually wound up in a mental institution. But Hyland proposes a new solution: what if they use a surrogate, with his sperm and a surrogate's egg? Suzette, a busy and successful heart surgeon, reluctantly agrees. Even though there are some red flags, the couple eventually chooses young Dorrie, a woman who wants to use the surrogate fees to go to college. Dorrie and Hyland bond, and Suzette realizes she must get on board with the idea. But soon Dorrie will make some decisions that will affect everyone in this new trio.

I am a bit conflicted about this novel. Ward wrote The Same Sky, which is a beautiful novel and one everyone should read in this current political climate. It's hard not to compare others to that magical book, and this one did fall short. She does, however, have a way of weaving stories with her words, and while I wasn't nearly as attached to the characters in this novel, I still found myself reading the last half of the book somewhat compulsively.

The novel started out slow, but picked up about 1/4 through, with a twist in the plot. It's told from a shifting rotation of perspectives, including Suzette, Dorrie, and Hyland. There are some large shifts in time as the novel progresses, which did make it harder to attach to some of the characters. None of the plot twists are exactly surprise, as they are foreshadowed a bit in each character's description: this is more of a character-driven novel versus a shocking dramatic novel. Still, even though I tore through the last half of the novel, I just felt the book lacked something, and I felt a tad let down by a story and characters that weren't completely fully developed (the ending is a bit abrupt as well). I enjoyed the perspectives on motherhood that the novel offered, but felt there could be more. That's not to say the novel isn't worth reading; Ward is a wonderful writer, but I just felt a little perplexed and frustrated when this one ended. I had hoped for more.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley (thank you!); it is available everywhere as of 02/21/2017.

This was a story that will really challenge your emotional and moral standards. A couple after 15 years of marriage decide to have a baby. Unfortunately, they cannot have one together. So they decide to use a surrogate which costs them $35,000. The surrogate after 9 months decides she's going to keep the child and runs away. Of course, the couple are stunned, lost, and grieving. After 2 years, the surrogate brings the child to them and says she can't keep it anymore and leaves.

What happens after that really makes you start to question this surrogate. (I'm not spoiling it any further!)

I found this book emotionally entertaining as it really touched several nerves. Okay, many nerves. I think that any book that can do that to me, is definitely worth reading. For me, that means the author has been able to impact me in such a way that those words weren't just words. They touched me.

Thanks to Random House - Ballantine for approving my request and to Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

In The Nearness of You, Amanda Eyre Ward explores the intricacies of motherhood and surrogacy.

Due to her family’s history of mental illness, cardiac surgeon Suzette Kendall decided early in life that she would not have children.  Her husband of fifteen years, Hyland, finally made peace with her decision before they married but he has recently had a change of heart.  Although she is not completely convinced motherhood is right for her, she and Hyland decide to use his sperm to impregnate a surrogate.  After selecting twenty-one year old Dorrie Muscarello to carry their baby, will Suzette and Hyland’s dream of becoming a family come true?

Suzette’s childhood with a mentally ill mother was quite a nightmare and her decision to not have kids of her own was solidified after she experienced difficulties during college.  Not once in all the years of her marriage has she regretted the decision and she never had any reason to believe that Hyland would change his mind.  Suzette has serious reservations about adding to their family, but she wants to make Hyland happy so in spite of her ambiguous feelings about parenthood, she agrees to her husband’s plan.

Suzette and Hyland’s search for a surrogate is more complicated than they believed so they ignore the agency’s warning that Dorrie might be a risky choice since she is relatively young and childless. Her reasons for becoming a surrogate are financially motivated since she dreams of going to college in order to escape her rather dismal life. The first insemination attempt is successful, the pregnancy is progressing smoothly and the Kendall’s are excited about Dorrie’s upcoming ultrasound.

From the prologue, readers are aware that something horrible has happened but what that could be remains unclear.  The first chapter then goes back to the point where Suzette and Hyland decide to have a baby and then follows the search for a surrogate and subsequent pregnancy until the point right before Dorrie’s ultrasound. The second part of the novel follows what happens next and these chapters unfold from various characters’ points of view.  The third part of the novel fast forwards back to the present and recounts the series of events leading up to the prologue. 

An insightful glimpse into the difficulties and pitfalls of surrogacy, The Nearness of You by Amanda Eyre Ward is a well-written novel that tugs on the heartstrings.  The characters are richly drawn and mostly sympathetic despite some of the choices they make. While not everything that happens throughout the story is completely unexpected, there are some nice twists and turns that are thought-provoking. The novel’s conclusion is a little abrupt and unsatisfying and readers will left wondering what comes next for the characters.

I have read many books by Ward and have always enjoyed them.  However, The Nearness of You just didn't do it for me.  It is very disjointed and a large time jump that just doesn't seem to gel.  

The idea of the story is very intriguing, I just would have liked to see it executed better.  I do not have an issue with MPV and past/present novels, but there just didn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to this and large chunks of time were spent describing Suzette's surgery's, which was completely unnecessary.  

All in all, it fell flat and Ward never gave you a chance to connect with the characters, and the "twist" is entirely predictable.  

Ultimately, I would not recommend this book.

4.5 stars 
Suzette and her husband, Hyland, have always agreed that they didn't want any children(because she's worried about mental illness on her side of the family), so you can imagine how surprised she is to find out that he wants a baby. They agree to find a surrogate who doesn't turn out to be exactly what they expected. The story is told in alternating viewpoints, as Suzette, Hyland, and Dorrie, the surrogate, each tell their stories. Ultimately, a story of family and love. Highly Recommend.

Suzette and Hyland had been married for years, and were comfortable in their love. Suzette worked long hours as a heart surgeon, Hyland wandered from job to job, but they were always there for each other. Things were good, until Hyland reneged on their marriage agreement by asking for a child. Suzette had never wanted children because her mother was mentally ill, and she stood a chance of passing on the illness. Despite misgivings, Suzette agrees to allow Hyland to medically impregnate a surrogate but, shortly after learning she was pregnant with his child, the surrogate disappears.

Through multiple viewpoints, Ward tells the story of the young surrogate struggling to raise a child she thought she didn’t want, but loved all the same, contrasted with Suzette’s similar conflict and love. Readers are taken through their years of pain, adaptations and sacrifice, to arrive at the conclusion that love conquers all.

“The nearness of you” was a good read, although the medical jargon was very confusing. I think Ward could have portrayed Suzette’s job in a general manner without resorting to readers having to hunt down a medical dictionary to figure out what was happening.

Recommended for Adults.

A heartfelt story of an unconventional family and how past hurts can form who we become in such profound ways. I enjoyed all the unique characters and the unexpected turns the story took at times.

Suzette and Hyland have decided years ago not to have children. After living their lives for years, Hyland decides he does want a child. They interview surrogates and finally find a surrogate named Dorrie. She ends up pregnant and runs away as she decides she wants to keep the baby. Will Dorrie keep the baby? Will Suzette and Hyland ever meet and raise their daughter? There are so many twists and turns to this wonderful book. It is told by Suzette, Hyland, Dorrie, and the child Eloise. It is a story of family, family love, and just what makes a family. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for allowing me to read and review this book.

I'm not a parent, nor do I plan to be, but for some reason stories like this always hook me. It only helps that this book was written so well. I fell in love with the cast of characters and invested instantly in them. This was like a Lifetime movie on steroids...and what I mean by that, is that the subject sounds like something you'd see on a Lifetime movie, but the material was so well thought out and presented that it far surpassed any content you'd get in a film there. 5 stars-loved this one!

The Nearness Of You
By
Amanda Eyre Ward




What it's all about...

This book is about a family.  Suzette, Hyland and Eloise are this family but in order to be this family lots of complicated things had to happen.  Hyland needed to be a father much more than Suzette needed to be a mother.  Dysfunctional characters, family issues, secrets and lies plus incredible storytelling made this book so amazingly readable.  These characters were happy at times, frustrating at times and incredibly heartbreaking at times.  And...I am not just talking about Suzette, Hyland and Eloise.  In addition to Suzette, Hyland and Eloise there were other major characters who helped make this family a family.  That's where the issues begin.

Why I wanted to read it...

I randomly read the first page and was totally hooked...

What made me truly enjoy this book...

I loved that the characters spoke in different chapters in their own voices telling their own stories.  

Why you should read it, too...

Readers who love great storytelling will love this beautiful book.  I loved it very much.

Excellent story! Looking forward to reading more by this author!

The Nearness of You starts with an intriguing promise. A couple, suzette and hyland, have agreed not to have children because suzette's mother suffered from a debilitating form of mental pain that caused suzette a difficult childhood. suzette is worried that she will pass down this predicament genetically.* Quite a few years into the marriage, though, hyland feels a strong desire to have children and suggests having a baby through surrogacy. the conversation around surrogacy and the steps (bureaucratic, interpersonal, emotional) that are required to make it happen is the most interesting part of this novel and also the best executed. As we learn at some point, it is apparently better to choose a woman who is married and has children of her own as the surrogate mother of your child. hyland though becomes somewhat smitten with a young woman whose only reason to become a surrogate mother is money (jealousy ensues). the novel only gestures at the complexity of all this. it is somewhat utopian I think to expect women to carry other people's children for the love of humanity and their fellow man, especially when (as in this case) they contribute the egg. i personally find this somewhat ideal, in the sense that it seems problematic to me that money should be involved in the creation (literally) of a child. practically, though, one cannot realistically ask a woman to carry a child for nine months for free, and since I find surrogacy a morally acceptable option i am more or less reconciled with the idea that money will be involved (are we still allowing the sale of blood? organs cannot be sold, which is evidence that that law does regulate the commerce of the body; if we stopped allowing that one be compensated for donating blood, then surrogacy would be the only case in which the utilization of the inside of one's body for others' benefit is remunerated; please correct me if i'm wrong).

the issue this novel analyzes and focuses on is not the ethical problems surrounding surrogacy but motherhood. in the scenario portrayed here (there are others), the surrogate mother is the biological mother, while the legal mother holds status that is similar to that of an adoptive mother -- she has no biological connection to her child. The fact that the father is biological as well may or may not complicate things. the novel focuses on what bonds a woman to her child, what doesn't, what it means to make a child and give her up, the planning and love that go into the making of a new human being, etc.

i will not spoil the plot. as I said, the best part is the part in which suzette, hyland, and the very young surrogate mother negotiate their relationship and their future. in this particular case, the surrogate mother agrees to disappear from the scene upon giving birth. i am not very knowledgeable about surrogacy but i do know that this is not always the case.

i found the rest of the novel, especially the exploration of motherhood, not as carefully thought out as the first part is. the rapport between the child and the mother(s) is difficult and complex, but this difficulty is not given enough room to breathe, enough depth to put down roots. the ending is intriguing, surprising, and surprisingly sweet, and leaves you with a sense of warmth the novel, i think, has not entirely earned.

i read this around the same time as i read My Name Is Lucy Barton and the juxtaposition of the two novels highlighted for me the tremendous achievement of Lucy Barton in portraying (with just about the same quantity of words as those used by The Nearness of You) a mother-daughter relationship so rich and well-rounded, it left me breathless.

thank you netgalley and ballantine books for an advance copy of this book.

* i will not use the phrase "mental illness" because there is simply no way for me to understand how the suffering of the heart and mind can ever be an "illness." but studies on the biological inheritability of predisposition to certain forms of human anguish seem to be pretty conclusive.

I received an ARC from Net Galley and started to read it right before the holidays. I wished I hadn't started it then I may have given it 5 stars if I was able to just sit and read the book continuously but things were too hectic. Even though that was the case I still gave it 4 stars because I never forgot what I had read because the characters and storyline stuck with me. The book had me at the Prologue where a girl was in the hospital close to death and the nurse comes in to tell the three visitors that visiting hours are over and no one moved. She says that only immediate family could stay past 5 PM. The man said I'm her father and the nurse said which of you is her mother? There was a thick quiet and the nurse repeated Who is her mother? And with that the story begins. This was not a typical surrogate mother story. It went places where I never thought a story like this would go. I very much enjoyed how each chapter was told alternatively from the point of view of each of the main characters (Hyland, Suzette, Dorrie and Eloise). What did surprise me was at how abruptly the story ended. I was stunned for a moment or two wanting more from the author because so much more could have been said. After sitting with it for awhile, I realized I was quite okay with it. I have definitely become a fan of Amanda Eyre Ward and will be looking forward to her next novel and hopefully an ARC!!!

Parenthood, family, all-encompassing love and the lengths a mother will go for her child, biological or not. THE NEARNESS OF YOU by Amanda Eyre Ward burrows deep into the lives of two women and the child they both love. Heart surgeon Suzette Kendall has never wanted anything to interfere with the life-saving work she does, including having a child. For Suzette and her upwardly mobile husband, Hyland life was good until Hyland decides he wants to feel the bond of a parent and child. For Suzette, it is not an option, mental illness runs rampant in her family and she refuses to pass along her curse.

After deep soul-searching and interviews, a surrogate mother is found, but when the baby girl is born, Dorrie is nowhere to be found. Although originally unsure of what they are doing, Suzette finds she will go to any length to find Hyland’s biological child and her newly awakened maternal heart’s reason for beating. Not until the toddler is sick, does Dorrie give her back and beg never to be hunted down.

As the years go by, this young teen questions her heritage, who her birth mother is and what her life would be like. Running away, she does discover who her mother is, but the fairy tale ending she hoped for becomes a deadly nightmare of pain for a troubled teen who longs for an identity and unconditional love. Has her young mind and heart missed the meaning of family, love and loyalty?

Amanda Eyre Ward will shred your heart as a young teen becomes desperate for answers and mistakes tough love for not caring. Explore the questions of a mothers’ pain, a mother’s love and a mother’s resilience to endure the worst for the child she loves. Is it biology or a matter of the heart?
You may not agree with the characters’ actions, you may find some characters harder to know and like, but in the end, you will see the lengths to which a mother will go for her child's welfare.

I received an ARC edition from Ballantine Books in exchange for my honest review.

Publisher: Ballantine Books (February 21, 2017)
Publication Date: February 21, 2017
Genre: Women's Fiction
Print Length: 240 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine Books for the ARC of this novel.

I'll start by saying if you plan to read this and you have any plans either cancel them or don't start the book because this is a total 1 Day-er. The book grabs you from the very first page (I don't want to spoil it but it starts at a hospital bedside and leads you to believe you know the ending). Aside from the attention grabbing prologue the books keeps a very nice pace.l and the chapters are relatively short but each one ends with a hook. 

Another aspect of the book the author did exceedingly well is kept what could be a somewhat complex/confusing tale clear and concise. The chapters are total from the POV of all of the characters but in some instances there's only 1 chapter for one character and other characters dominated the book. That could have been very confusing to constantly switch POVs but it wasn't and I found it added a different element to the plot that made it more enjoyable. 

So if this is a great book why the 4 stars? I thought the author could have gone into each characters emotional state and why they did things a little bit more. You know each characters "demons" in the book but how it affected them comes off a little superficial in the book. Even with that slight negative this is still a must read book and you will not be disappointed if you pick it up.

Suze the and Hyland have been married for 15 years and have successful careers as architect and surgeon at age of 39. Hyland dreams of having a baby through surroogacy. They decide on dorie who falls in love with thought of being a mother  after impregnanted  and runs away. She turns in the baby a year later but still holds a secret

This was a really great book!   I at first found it to be moving a bit slow but the more I read, the more I liked it.  In the beginning, the story revolves around Hyland and Suzette, a very successful couple living a charmed life.  As life progresses for Suzette and Hyland, Hyland expresses the desire to start a family.  He knows that Suzette has issues about becoming pregnant because she comes from a dysfunctional family.  Her mother has been mentally ill her whole life and Suzette has had some issues also.  Because of this, they decide to have a surrogate give birth to their child.  The story goes back and forth between Suzette, Hyland, Dorrie, and other important people in the story line.  This is a beautifully written book and one I could not put down.  I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more tales from this talented author.

I thought this novel had the makings of a great story.  The story itself was fascinating, there was enough drama to draw the reader in and keep them engaged as the story was captivating but I think it lacked on delivery.  Suzette and Hyland decided to find a surrogate as Suzette was worried about her family’s health issues being passed down.   Dorrie didn’t quite fit within the guidelines of what they should be looking for but they liked her, so Dorrie became their surrogate.  When she doesn’t show up for the sonogram appointment and they find a note on her door, fear creeps into the couple life.   Betrayal, anger, confusion, grief and frustration all pop into my head as I read the note that Dorrie left for them.  As the story unwinds, I found it hard to get emotional as I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters in this novel.  As the couple tries to locate Dorrie and they deal with their emotions and with each other, I understood what they were going through but I felt like I should be feeling something deeper.  I heard Dorrie’s side of the story and other individuals that were close to her and I understood where she was coming from and why she behaving the way she was but again I felt I was missing something.    Perhaps it is just me and other readers will enjoy this novel just the way it is, everyone is different.  I did enjoy the story though but I think I would have told it a different way.  3.5 stars

I received a copy of this novel from NetGalley and Ballantine Books in exchange for an honest review.

I was super excited when I got approved for this on Netgalley by Ballentine books! I rarely get approved for books that are not published by Bookouture, so I could believe my eyes when I got the approval email for this. I was anxious to read it and when I did get to it, I was not disappointed (for the most part).

From the very first chapter I could tell this was going to be a heavy book to read. It touches on so many tough subjects including mental illness, surrogacy, and the pressure on a relatioship/marriage when one partner doesn’t want to have children. Later on in the book we get to see the effects of PTSD from deployment, drug abuse, prostitution, and child neglect. If any of these things are possible triggers for you, please be aware that this is at least touched on briefly in the novel. To be honest, I was not expecting such a heavy story to come with this book, but it was an amazing read nonetheless.

The prologue is pretty much the ending of the story, then the rest of the story is told as the character are looking back and reminiscing over the experience. As the story begins, we find out the main couple has been married for 15 years and all of a sudden Hyland (the husband)  brings up the subject of children. Again. Hyland actually called off their engagement because Suzette (the wife) doesn’t want children, but decided to marry her anyways. So what Suzette thought was a long buried and agreed upon subject is once again brought back up. Now Suzette does have her reasons for not wanting children and Hyland has his reasons for wanting children. They quickly decided on a compromise of surrogacy.

After many different women backed up of being Hyland and Suzettes surrogate, for many different reasons, they finally find a young woman named Dorrie to agree which happens towards the end of Part One. 

Up until this point, I found the book not extremely interesting. It was really slow and it took me a while to figure out exactly how I was feeling about the story. I was so confused because the book contained very interesting subject matter, I just didn’t find it very interesting. To be honest, I felt kind of awkward and uneasy.

Literally as soon as I finished Part One, I had an epiphany. I was feeling this way about the book because that’s how Suzette was feeling. For the most part, Part One of the book was told from Suzette’s POV. Since she was feeling awkward and uneasy about the children discussion, finding a surrogate, and trying to figure out if this is what she really wanted that’s how I was feeling too! It was an amazing experience. I was feeding on this vibes of the words and the character. I’m not sure that has ever happened to me on this scale before it and it was awesome!

Part Two starts with a chapter from Dorrie (the surrogate) and I was some completely captivated at this point! I loved that Ward had the surrogate’s POV included in the story.

Throughout this part of the book, readers get to see many different POVs– Suzette, Dorrie, Jayne (random little girl), Eloise (surrogate baby), and Hyland. I’m not sure exactly why Jayne got a chapter in her perspective, but she did.

This is the part of the book where all heck breaks loose, literally! The feelings that Dorrie was having really touched my heart because I know that those are the same exact feelings I would have if I were to be in her situation. At least that’s how I picture it would happen.

After reading Dorrie’s thoughts, I just can’t imagine that when you agree to be a surrogate that you actually know what you’re signing up for and getting yourself into. So I was not surprised that Dorrie reacts the way that she does. 

Part Three was full of twists, some I was expecting and some I was not. I was completely blind sided by one of the major reveals, nothing could have prepared me for that. But the reveal wasn’t a negative one, which I really liked. The reveal made me really happy and really sad at the same time. 

The ending of the book was where I was really disappointed. The ending left me completely unsatisfied. I seriously loved the whole book, but in my opinion Ward really dropped the ball on the ending of the book. It had so much potential for a tragic or happy ending, whichever she would have chosen. But instead we got not kind of closure and are left guessing how everything turned out for the characters. But it didn’t leave off in such a way that you would think there will be a sequel.

One of my favorites things about a book is reading to see where the book gets its title from. The Nearness of You could have been incorporated into the book in some many different wonderful ways. But NO. This book got it’s title from an Ella Fitzgerald song that Eloise sings for her a cappella tryouts. Boring. Bummer.

The whole book was so well put together, but the ending made it lose a few star points for me. Unfortunately. But overall, it was a wonderful book and I would still recommend it to other readers!