The Idea of You, Amanda Prowse

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  General Fiction, Women's Fiction.

I'm a late addition to the Amanda Prowse fan-club, having only seen her works recently. This is my third read of her work. 
I put off reading this for a while, not because it didn't interest me but because from the last two I've read I was pretty sure it was going to be a solid read, one which absorbed my full attention and really tested my emotions. I have to be in the mood for that.

I'm a romance reader primarily - of all types - but so many of those are a little light and fluffy, fine if that's what you're in the mood for, but sometimes I want something deeper, a novel that really intrigues me, makes me think, makes me wonder what I would do if I was the main character. Amanda's books, at least the three I've read, are just perfect for those times. 

Its a very emotional read, great characters and in Lucy there's a part of so many women today. We have the choice now about motherhood, when to become a mum, or not to have children at all if that's our choice. 

For people like Lucy a husband goes along with this dream of motherhood. Some in her position go the single parent route, via a friend, an anonymous hook-up, or the medically safer route of IVF. Lucy wants the whole ten yards, the husband, the baby, the family home the traditional family unit.
She's getting older though, as friends and colleagues keep reminding her, time is growing close. Why do people do that? Assume everyone wants to be a mum, not knowing if its choice or circumstances that are stopping them? If its the latter then every reminder must touch at their heart, really hurt. 
Men don't get that, their peers never say "C'mon mate, those swimmers are shriveling fast. Clock's ticking for Dad of the Decade". They don't get frequent reminders of time passing, chances being missed and yet many are in Lucy's position, want to be fathers but circumstances haven't brought it their way. 
And then just when all looks promising it all falls down, and down and down. Poor Lucy, it was like one heartbreak after another. 

The character portrayals here were perfect. Lucy, I could feel her emotions, her longing to make her mum proud, and of course her dad, though he's been dead many years.
She keeps her longing for a family to herself, and gets kind of written off as one of those cold, career women, eternal auntie. Again, men never get judged in this way....
We feel throughout that she's carrying some deep anguish, that she has secrets, and wow when they come out, its like a toppling of a card house, everything falls apart just when the family need to pull together. 

Jonah was a lovely man, adored "my Lucy" - I love the way he calls her that, in that warm voice full of love. I can hear it in my head. 
He's so deeply in love, so happy that he has a second chance at marriage after the disaster that his first one was. It gave him Camille though, who's 16 now, and just as he and Lucy look set for the future they want after some setbacks, she arrives to stay for the summer.

Camille, a perfect portrayal of a mixed up teen, and most of them are just that. Its a time when everything seems to be wonderful or disastrous, its all highest highs and deepest lows. There's little happy medium, teens just career along, carried on their emotions and as for teen love...its intense. Often fades, leaving one party feeling heartbroken, til the next partner comes along but can win through. I met my husband at 16, he was 21, we married when I was 18 and had 40 happy years until he died. 
Camille felt so real, had a teen daughter myself and of course I can recall my own teen years. She seems to be dismissive of Lucy, she's cleverly manipulative in the way she acts, and tells Lucy how wonderful her mum is, her friends are, how absorbing and interesting life in France is. 
Lucy looks back to her own teen years, where her father had just died and she wasn't like Camille, didn't have her confidence, and did exactly as she was told. 

Teens seem to be so much more mature these days, Like Lucy I can recall being expected to obey adults without question, to not talk back, to be respectful even if they or what they wanted may not have deserved it. At 16 I was in many ways quite young for my age, though very determined to stick to and for my love.  In contrast Camille feels like 16 going on 26, and yet underneath is there a different girl?

Its a fabulous book, full of circumstances found in many families, and part of it is so relevant to my own experience.
I know exactly how Lucy felt, been there though a little different ending for me. Its a heartbreaking read at times, I had such tears for her, her anguish and wish for what so many people take for granted. Tears for Jonah too, he loved Lucy, was so happy at his second chance at marriage but it wasn't all plain sailing. 

Of course what I always want is a HEA, not for me books that end in doom and gloom, real life has enough of that and this book delivers a perfect ending. Not perhaps the one I'd expected, the predicable, easy route but one that's far more realistic while still giving me some smiles, and making me think all that they went through was worth it. 

Stars: five, a fabulous read, so very real feeling, with characters I could see and hear in my head, that made me very emotional for them.

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

This was an emotional and empowering novel. Lucy has climbed the corporate ladder yet she feels she is missing something every important in her life. While others envy her, Lucy yearns for the lives of her peers, she longs to be sleep deprived because her child kept her up all night or to come to work late because her child was having a bad morning. As she sneaks again into the bathroom with a pregnancy test, I hoped that the results this time would bring the couple the baby they so desperately wanted.

When Camille arrives for the summer, Lucy has mixed emotions how she will fit into the mix. Jonah hasn’t seen his daughter for quite some time and now that she’s a teen, she’s become a different person. The apartment explodes as the three of them try to find their footing. Lucy wants to be a friend to Camille yet she is her stepmother and what exactly does that mean and then we have Camille behavior, which she can change in an instant. I liked listening to them and reading about them, these two women seemed to be fighting for space but what was really going on between them? The father, Camille adores him and he enjoys the attention that he gets from her. He doesn’t feel he is picking sides when things get heated between the three of them but the others in the household feel differently. The couple desperately wanted to have a child yet this goal seems to fall into the hands of Lucy when Camille arrives. I could feel how lonely and isolated she felt as she battled this alone while her husband was on stage being a hero for Camille. Camille finds a summer job where she meets Dex. He seems like a nice guy who has his life planned out, a guy who will go far and Camille falls hard for him. Dex is a game changer for this household, as he stretches this family to great lengths and the truth finally is revealed. What a terrific ending, I didn’t see that coming and loved how it all played out. There were such a variety of emotions for all the characters in this novel, I loved how they shifted around. I enjoyed this novel as it dealt with family, relationships, secrets, and first love.

I received a copy of this novel from NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for an honest opinion.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book had powerful moments that shook me to the core. The main character is unable to conceive a child and has miscarriages, something I have never experienced. Her desire to have a child really touched me. The book was very good, got a little long in the middle, but overall was a good solid read.

Just finished this beautifully written heartfelt story of love, loss, tenacity and redemption. The author has brilliantly brought to life this family dealing with several life altering events and decisions. I love that none of the plot lines were over dramatized, nor over simplified. I was slightly concerned that the author may go off the rails on one story line, but it was not so, and each event was woven together perfectly. I could not put the book down! I also loved how refreshing it is to read a book that can tell a story of sometimes hard things without a mini lecture being inserted. A great read and highly recommend!

I have heard so many wonderful things about Amanda’s work, but The Idea of You is the first book I have read by her, and I promise you this – it will not be my last! Wow!! What a heart wrenching, emotional, beautiful book this is.

Exploring the struggle to conceive and have a child is something that affects so many people each and every day, and one that whilst we empathise, we have little understanding of how it must feel unless we have been through it. Miscarriage or the inability to conceive is often given the ‘aww’ sympathy reaction but not thought of as a catastrophic loss, which it can be.

The Idea of You explores the impact that this can have both on Lucy personally, but also on the relationship between her and Jonah. That overwhelming urge to be able to carry a baby and become a parent, the secrecy and feeling of failure that you keep from others.

It is further complicated that Jonah already has a teenage daughter Camille who doesn’t make things easy for Lucy, despite her best efforts to make Camille feel welcome. Can they overcome this, especially as Lucy’s urge for motherhood becomes stronger and Camille’s rebellion becomes harder?

This is such a moving book and written with such depth and well developed characters it felt very precious and as I was reading it I could feel my mannerism becoming soft and protective, and I wanted to nurture and honour it. I think this is because Amanda has produced a book so full of reality and realism that it felt like I could be reading someone’s true story and it deserved respect and understanding.

Thank you Amanda for writing a book which will only increase understanding and empathy for the people who have been in this situation, and for writing a book with characters that as a reader I came to care about. They will stay with me in time to come.

The Idea of You is a powerful, emotional read. I liked it, but didn't love it, because I don't think I am quite the right intended audience for this book even though I am in the same age range as Lucy, our heroine. Lucy is a successful 39 year old woman who is yearning for a baby, and a man, to fulfill her financially successful life. She meets Jonah at a coworker's wedding and they have a whirlwind courtship, and a few months later, marry quietly. A year later, they are expecting their first child together, but it's here where everything falls apart. As Lucy and Jonah deal with loss, Jonah's teenaged daughter comes to live with them and their marriage is tried and tested, as Lucy and Jonah both have a hard time getting along with his bratty daughter.

With each loss that Lucy and Jonah suffer, their marriage is further tested. When something huge happens (no spoilers here, though), their marriage is put even further to the test. I like how Lucy dealt with this huge surprise, and it's here where her character shines. It's also here where Jonah's character shows his faults. His reaction was a huge disappointment to me. I was expecting so much more from him, and when he let Lucy down with his extreme, rather immature and even malicious, reaction, I wanted to junk punch him. I can't imagine going through what Lucy was going through, had gone through in her past, and I wanted Jonah to be there for her the way he had been throughout their ordeal earlier in their marriage. When he wasn't there for her, I honestly expected their marriage to end.

Thank God they both pulled themselves up, showed their age and maturity level, and were there for each other and their family. I like the ending, it's all very sweet, and Lucy realizes that she finally is happy and fulfilled. She may not have gotten everything she wanted, but she did the best with what she did have.

I wish I were the right audience for The Idea of You, because if so, I think I would have loved it. As it stands, though, some of what I think Amanda Prowse was aiming for didn't resonate with me. I don't have children, although I am like a second mom to my niece and nephew, who were born when I was a teenager and whom I helped raise, and I have never suffered the losses that Lucy suffered. So I didn't completely appreciate some parts of this book that I think others who have been in Lucy's shoes would appreciate. Yet, I can give this a good review because it's well written, very emotional, and many of the characters develop quite a lot.

The Idea of you by Amanda is a heart breaking 5 star read.
Lucy is nearing 40 and all she wants is a baby,meeting Jonah at a Christening and after a whirlwind romance they get married,their love is one of a kind and they try for a baby but heart breaking miscarriage after miscarriage starts to make cracks in their relationship. Jonah's teenage daughter, Camille, from a previous marriage comes to live with them and Lucy starts to feel left out but when Camille falls pregnant and a long kept secret comes out,Lucy and Jonah must find a way back to each other and the love they shared. This was a wonderfully written book that tears your heart open but does have a happy ending.

This one wasn't for me. I couldn't get into the writing or the characters, who all seemed very one-dimensional.

This was OK. A predictable tale of a woman who unfortunately has a series of miscarriages and her attempts to get to know here husbands daughter. The characters were quite engages, and there were moments when I need to know what happened. It did keep my interest, but is not something I would ever buy for myself or give to friends

I did not enjoy this book. I felt like I could not connect with any of the characters. Maybe since I had my children young, I just cannot imagine wanting a baby and not having your life together at the age of 40. Even though I did empathize with the main character, Lucy, I just couldn't get on board with this story line and her emotions. Kind of depressing/annoying.

2.5 stars

This book started out as a 3 star (“ok” read, not great but not horrible either), but a chapter or so in, it went down to 2 stars and truth be told, by the time I reached the halfway mark, I was so annoyed with the way the story was going that I was tempted to DNF the book right then and there. But not being one to abandon a book in the middle of reading unless there is a truly compelling reason, I stuck with it and ended up speed-reading through the rest of the book so I could get through it as quickly as possible (and move on to other books that I might actually enjoy reading). While the last 20% or so of the book – including the ending – didn’t turn out as bad as I thought it would, the damage had already been done in that I was already annoyed with 80% of the book, so I couldn’t really bring myself to raise my rating to anything more than 2.5 stars.

For me, what irritated me most about this book were the characters, mostly the main character Lucy and (to some extent) her husband Jonah. I was not able to identify with Lucy at all, which I found quite ironic given the fact that certain aspects of the character’s life (prior to her marriage) paralleled my own – namely, Lucy’s position in the beginning of the story where she is a career-driven woman who, finding herself still single as she approaches her 40s, begins to seriously contemplate what role marriage and children have in her future. The difference, of course, is that Lucy is "crazily" obsessed with wanting to be a mother and to have a baby of her own that she can dote on (in her own words, she was "desperate to be a mother"), to the point that it basically consumes every waking moment of her life and impacts everything she says, does, thinks. This is the case even after she gets married and not surprisingly, her overwhelming desire to have a baby ends up straining her relationship with her husband as well as everyone else around her. Personality-wise, the way Lucy is portrayed for majority of the story – as a woman who, despite being in her 40s and having a prestigious, high-level managerial position at her company, was highly immature, selfish, hypocritical, and often acted like a jealous, defiant teenager when dealing with all issues outside of work – made her a very unlikable character. I actually found it very difficult to feel any bit of sympathy for Lucy, despite all the struggles she endures throughout the story.

From a story perspective, I felt like things dragged on too much, with the focus for 90% of the book being on Lucy’s desperate attempts to become a mother. I got tired of reading about the same thing over and over again, chapter after chapter: Lucy attempting to become pregnant, her nearly daily spats with her husband Jonah over trivial matters that almost always stemmed from her unwavering desire to have a baby, etc. The inconsistency of the writing also bothered me – not so much sentence structure or grammatical stuff, but rather the way the author seemed to “over-explain” things in some sections (especially when it came to Lucy’s thoughts and feelings) but then “under-explain” in other sections (usually when it pertained to things not directly related to Lucy’s desire to have a baby). It almost felt as though most of the dialogue in the book was meant “justify” in some way Lucy’s every word, thought, and action, whether positive or negative.

To me, this is a book that has limited reading scope in that it likely won’t appeal to those who may not have the same concerns, beliefs, experiences, etc. as the characters in the story. I clearly was not the target audience for this book, as I am not married (despite being nearly the same age as Lucy was when the story opened) and do not have children. Not to mention, my belief system also conflicts with what I perceive to be the “message” that the author (whether intentionally or unintentionally) seemed to be trying to convey throughout the book: that the only way for a woman to truly be happy in life is to get married and have children. Of course, I have nothing against marriage or having children (in fact, I love kids and have a nephew whom I adore), but I also don’t see anything wrong with still being single. But this is just me….perhaps others who read this book may have a different perspective – for me, this book definitely wasn’t my cup of tea.

Received advance reader copy from Lake Union Publishing via NetGalley.

I'm guilty of prejudging this without really knowing what the story was about. My first response "An Amanda Prowse book...isn't this just weepy fiction aimed at women?"

However, as this was a preapproved title I decided not to read the blurb, reviews, comments regarding this book and just take a chance on what was inside. I'm glad I did. Very pleasantly surprised at how well written it was and how it dealt with the subject matter. I especially enjoyed how the sub plots weren't laboured and all were wrapped up neatly as the book progressed. Sometimes its nice to leave things to develop in the readers head and helps move the book along at a good pace.

You really get to enjoy who the characters are and really feel for Lucy. The main plot twist did take me by surprise, which was another major plus point and it genuinely did feel like a real life drama that you would imagine happens to real people. The sense of perspective and optimism towards the end was welcome. Life happens, however usually not how you planned.

Based on this I would definitely try another of Amanda's books

Well written and a quick read.

Honestly, this is not my type of novel: too chick lit-y and too gushy about babies. Also I know we are supposed to 'use our words' but at times I wished they would use a little fewer.

However from previous experience this is simply 'par for the course' for this kind of novel and in general this book was well written.
The writing showed a sensitive understanding of the distress and trauma experienced by the main character and it brought the story together in a satisfying conclusion without taking the easy path.
Naturally as always in such things Jonah, the male protagonist, was a little obtuse and all the main characters needed to 'get over themselves' but that only made the conclusion more poignant.

My only serious complaint would be concerning Lucy's attitude to the teenage Camille. I am slightly older than the main protagonist, Lucy, and have raised a couple of teenagers. Her attitude struck me as being from the 1950s: more from my mother's generation than from my own. I assume this was done to heighten the conflict and tension but it engendered in me the desire to give Lucy a sharp shake and yell "Were you never young?!!"

Recommended for anyone who enjoys the type of chick lit that doesn't revolve around designer clothes or shopping. Well written and a quick read.

The Idea of You has a slow build. With each page comes another layer into Lucy's story. You learn how the past can impact a future. I cried a couple of times watching her navigate through being a new wife and stepmother while battling her own demons. Forgiveness isn't easy, especially forgiving oneself. There was a lot to be learned about truly loving yourself. Many go through life without ever achieving contentment which is why I enjoyed reading about Lucy's journey. Heartwarming and a satisfying read. I would definitely read more from this author.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.

The speed with which Amanda Prowse writes amazes me especially when her books turn out to be as well written and readable as this book. That is the only reason I kept going with this one. I wish I could have liked the characters better. They were all shallow except for the daughter, Camille, who was an erratic teenager but she has a mind of her own at least. It is emotional chick lit which perhaps would have sparked a response in me if I had ever had a miscarriage, an abortion, or a child.
Maybe I just didn't get it. The family dynamics are interesting but not compelling.
I reluctantly give this 3 stars because it kept me reading.

Amanda Prowse is the author of no-fewer than a dozen novels now listed on Amazon, a couple of them best-sellers, all published in the last five years. And she is a good story teller.

The book’s prologue contains a flashback that is unexplained until much later. When the novel begins, the “you” in The Idea of You appears to be the man Lucy—now hitting 40—can at last fall in love with and marry. But within a chapter or two, Lucy finds that man in Joshua, and they promptly marry. From the start, Joshua seems almost too good to be true. He is handsome, sensitive, considerate, kind, prosperous, and (above all) he adores her. Enough pluses to make me suspicious that he has an evil streak he’s hiding or a terrible secret. But, no, that’s not the story Prowse is telling.

Before much longer, we get to the actual “you” in the title. It is the child Lucy yearns for but is apparently (no spoilers here) unable to carry to term, or very long at all. As the book progresses, her pregnancies end early, but she keeps trying and falling apart each time. At this point the reader has no idea if a baby will eventually come along, and Lucy’s grief after each setback is clear and understandable. But Prowse didn’t seem to think she’s driven home the enormity of Lucy’s heartbreak, so she inserts italicized letters to the lost child between chapters. For example, one describes the never-to-be baby taking his or her adorably wobbly first steps. After one or two, I began skipping the italicized parts.

The story moves along until Lucy tells her husband a secret that she has hidden from everyone her entire adult life. I won’t reveal the secret, but here is where the plot goes off track. Given Lucy’s age, the secret isn’t as shameful as it would have been in an earlier era. Not does Joshua’s extreme reaction to it jibe with the character Prowse has given him until now. I can think of other secrets that might have made him that angry, but not this one. His outrage drives the rest of the story to its somewhat predictable ending.

There are some good elements to The Idea of You. Prowse is an engaging writer, and her characters—with the exception of Joshua’s Jekyll-Hyde moment—seem real and sympathetic. But Prowse has a tendency to become unnecessarily heavy handed and maudlin about Lucy’s fertility problems when a simple description would be enough.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What an emotional roller coaster.The growth in the characters was amazing and as someone who has never been through any of these situations it gave me more understanding. I'll admit the onion ninjas came to visit me. Lucy is a strong woman and her letters were so heartfelt.

The Idea of You is the first book I have read of Amanda Prowse. I was initially attracted to the book because Lucy, the main character and I were of similar age. At times the book felt slow and repetitive, and I was not sure I wanted to keep reading. While initially, I was sympathetic to Lucy's plight, I soon found myself a bit frustrated with her inability to see things from anyone else's perspective. However, I am glad that I stuck with the book because by the book's end I saw Lucy in a new light. This book took me through a gamut of emotions and overall it was a good read. I received a copy of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

I've never dealt with the issues of infertility or step-parenting personally, but I certainly have many friends as well as some close family members who have. This author conveys the gut wrenching emotions of both of these issues beautifully. I found myself getting frustrated with Lucy although maybe that isn't fair since I've never gone through these situations. I found her to be a bit too introspective and that bogged me down at times.
I think most women can relate to many of the family dynamics that occur in the book even if we haven't lived the exact same experiences.
This would make a great book to take along on a trip. Be prepared for some emotions though!

I am an avid reader and can usually read most genres of fiction as well as a wide range of non fiction. This book, however, defeated me. I tried to give it a chance, but repeatedly found myself picking it up, reading a page or two then getting distracted and leaving it for days before finding the motivation to pick it up again. As someone who can read a book in one or two sittings if I have the time and it catches my interest, this is very unusual. Her writing style is okay, but not gripping. The 'plot' as it was, was not that interesting, either. Not a book to remember.