By Larissa Page
In Hold My Girl, Charlene Carr crafts an incredible moral dilemma impacting two very different but forever-connected mothers. Two eggs, intentionally switched by a nurse during the IVF process, lead to one stillborn and one healthy baby to two separate mothers known to each other but not realizing their connection until the healthy baby is ten months old. The birth mother, Katherine, sees her seemingly perfect life begin to implode while the biological mother, Tess, sees her imploded life begin to look hopeful again.
As with any moral question observed over the course of a story though, we learn there is so much more than meets the eye for both mothers and see them each fight for themselves and their shared daughter in different ways.
This story was so original. A legitimate fear, a completely believable plot (especially since the switch was intentional). I really enjoyed how it presented the conflict, the switch, right at the beginning, then the story followed both mothers as they work through it (via mediation, court, leaning on family and friends, etc.) throughout the following months. I felt like each mother learned an incredible amount about their own lives in the process and became different characters by the end of the book—it was fantastic character development.
I found this to be a quick read, engaging and propulsive. The hints and twists kept the story moving at a great pace while the focus of the story itself was on this moral question: who should “have” Rose (the child), the biological mother or the birth mother? I also liked how more morals other than the main dilemma were called into question.
Ultimately, this book was full of love and healing, even though it was also full of heartbreak and trauma. It drew out a lot of empathy from me, as the reader, and made me question what I felt about different situations. All the feelings expressed by each of the characters were relatable and understandable. I feel like readers from all walks of life will understand where these characters come from, why they make the decisions they do, and why have the feelings they have, even if the reader doesn’t share things in common with the characters.
I think this story brings some really important things to light, not just things about birth mother/bio mother rights even though that is a big question asked. It also shines a spotlight on infertility and IVF and the internal struggles those parents face. It discusses some forms of addiction as well as conflicts of race and interracial families. Hold My Girl gives us not only a learning opportunity and a chance to question some of our own internal biases, but also a compelling story worthy of your time.
Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for this complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!