Lucy Carpenter has a fantastic life. She has a job that she loves that she's found a great deal of success with. She found the love of her life, albeit later in life, and has a strong and loving marriage. But as her fortieth birthday is closing in, she can't help but feel like she wants a baby, in order to bring everything together.
But life is rarely that easy.
Instead of a successful, happy pregnancy, Lucy instead finds herself grieving after a miscarriage and dealing with her teenaged stepdaughter, work issues, self-doubt, and isolation. Why do other women find it so easy to have a baby while she finds herself disappointed every month? Is there a reason Lucy can't have it all? It is her age, her life choices, or is it something else entirely? Can she ever find the happiness she craves without a baby to round out her life?
Amanda Prowse's The Idea of You is the story of one woman's fight for a baby. She is fighting against time. She is fighting against her own body. She is fighting against her stepdaughter. And she is fighting against her husband. But what she really needs is the courage to fight for herself.
This is not an easy book to read. It deals with characters in difficult and painful situations. There is a satisfying resolution in the end, which helped, but this is not a story for the faint of heart. Read with a box of tissues and a cup of tea nearby.
Galleys for The Idea of You were provided by the publisher through NetGalley.com.