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What Was Mine: A Novel
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Simply told but deeply affecting, in the bestselling tradition of Alice McDermott and Tom Perrotta, this urgent novel unravels the heartrending yet unsentimental tale of a woman who kidnaps a baby in a superstore-and gets away with it for twenty-one years.
Lucy Wakefield is a seemingly ordinary woman who does something extraordinary in a desperate moment: she takes a baby girl from a shopping cart and raises her as her own. It's a secret she manages to keep for over two decades-from her daughter, the babysitter who helped raise her, family, coworkers, and friends.
When Lucy's now-grown daughter Mia discovers the devastating truth of her origins, she is overwhelmed by confusion and anger and determines not to speak again to the mother who raised her. She reaches out to her birth mother for a tearful reunion, and Lucy is forced to flee to China to avoid prosecution. What follows is a ripple effect that alters the lives of many and challenges our understanding of the very meaning of motherhood.
Author Helen Klein Ross, whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, weaves a powerful story of upheaval and resilience told from the alternating perspectives of Lucy, Mia, Mia's birth mother, and others intimately involved in the kidnapping. What Was Mine is a compelling tale of motherhood and loss, of grief and hope, and the life-shattering effects of a single, irrevocable moment.
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Recenzii
Lucy Wakefield had it all at one point: the perfect marriage, a great job, and a beautiful home in the suburbs. The one thing she didn't have was a child. After several years of trying it became obvious that she simply wasn't going to be able to have a child. After her divorce, Lucy realized that it was going to be close to impossible for her to adopt as a single mother. In a moment of sheer desperation, Lucy does something that will have repercussions for not only herself but many others in What Was Mine by Helen Klein Ross.Lucy Wakefield walks into a busy big box store one day and finds an infant all alone in a shopping cart, no parent or caregiver in sight. After years of trying to have a child and then to adopt a child, Lucy does the unthinkable, she takes the child. She then creates an elaborate backstory to cover her crime. She provides a loving and caring home for the infant she renames Mia, sending her to the best schools, providing a nanny, and much more. It isn't until Lucy begins to work as a coauthor and goes on a book tour that her carefully crafted life of lies begins to unravel. And it all starts with a simple cell phone call that features a picture of her "adopted" daughter Mia. One minute of neglect resulted in years of anguish for Marilyn. Not only did she lose her child, but for a time, she lost her mind to grief, and then she loses her marriage. It wasn't until she decided to leave the East Coast for California that her life began a new path. She remarries and has three beautiful children, never for one moment forgetting her firstborn. Mia's birth mother, Marilyn, was pulled to the fictional story Baby Drive, as it is about an infant kidnapped from a store and raised by his kidnappers. When she attends the author signing and sees Mia's picture on the coauthor's cell phone, she contacts the authorities and requests a DNA test. The test results confirm Marilyn's suspicions; Mia is her long lost daughter. In another act of desperation, Lucy leaves for a trip to China, unwittingly fleeing to a country without extradition agreements with the US. Can Mia and Marilyn connect as mother and daughter after all these years? Will Mia be able to forge a connection with her mother's new family? What, if anything, will happen to Lucy as a result of her actions all those years ago?I found What Was Mine to be a fast-paced and engrossing read. Ms. Ross tells the story from various perspectives, Lucy, Mia, Marilyn, Wendy (Mia's Chinese nanny), and others. I found the story to be quite interesting because it seems to ask the question, what makes one a mother? Mia spends a lot of time with her nanny as a young girl and even speaks a bit of Chinese and has an appreciation for authentic Chinese food as a result. Wendy, the nanny, was definitely more of a mother-figure when Mia was a child. The reader is given just enough of Lucy's backstory to feel a bit of empathy of her pain at being unable to have a child (this empathy doesn't excuse Lucy's criminal action). Wendy has traveled from China to the US in order to help make a better life for her family, regrettably this means she had to leave her husband and child behind. Eventually, she returns to China and her family, but she is torn by the idea that she raised another person's child while leaving hers behind. One of the things I enjoyed the most about this story was that as a reader I was allowed the opportunity to get to know each of the main characters and see things from their perspectives. I can recommend What Was Mine to anyone that enjoys reading a story filled with love, loss, family drama, forgiveness, and more. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Ross in the future.
What a heart wrenching page turner!!This is mostly Mia (Natalie) and Lucy's story most often told from them as well as other people Marilyn (Mia's birth mom) as well as the nanny, Mia's birth father, Lucy's sister and more. It's my opinion that there were way too many narrators, that for me it interrupted the flow a bit. Nonetheless I totally loved this book. Lucy and Tom's marriage has shattered, primarily due to the inability and pressure to add children to their family. Lucy has a demanding job and that consumes her life. Until the day she goes to Ikea. She sees an abandoned baby in a cart with no sign of any parent or caregiver. She initially justifies snatching Natalie as saving her; clearly she is being neglected, who abandons their child in a shopping cart? Then she convinces herself that she is only "borrowing" the baby for a little while; a few hours maybe; and then she will return her. And then twenty one years go by. She's told everyone that a long awaited adoption came through and she raises Natalie, now Mia as her own. Until a chance meeting of Lucy and Marilyn starts the ball rolling to Lucy's secret being discovered. This author is a genius with the way she portrays Lucy. I liked Lucy, despite what she had done. After all, she didn't kidnap Mia to abuse her or sell her. She raised her on her own and her efforts made Mia a strong, confident, smart woman. By the same token, I did sympathize with Marilyn. I can't even begin to imagine the horror her life became. Not knowing where your child is and the pain of losing her daughter were portrayed so well; Parts of this book were so painful to read. Yet, even though Lucy clearly did the wrong thing, I found myself rooting for her as hoping she didn't get caught although I knew sooner or later it would all come out. I found myself not liking Marilyn very much, found some of her parenting a little whacko and found her very judgy. And it really bothered me that Mia's feelings towards Lucy, the only mother she knew, weren't really considered. This is the kind of story that no way can end happily ever after. The actions of Lucy affected so many people irreparably. But the characters did seem to be on their way to the best ending there could be. I was sad when the story ended, I wanted more for them and more of their story. If you're looking for an emotional book that will consume you, this is it. What a great read.
Well-written, dramatic, good pacing. Multiple perspectives keep it moving and keep it interesting. Two knocks:1) The characters tell the story, but none of them are easily to identify with emotionally. Their motives, but not their hearts are revealed.2) The ending stops short. It's such an abrupt end to the story that I thought at first I had an incomplete version on my Kindle.
This was a good book but I thought some of what happened came too easily or coincidentally making it unbelievable at times. I also thought the author was a bit winded and over wrote the book a bit.A story about a kidnapping told from everyone's perspective and what makes a family a family and how much love can endure.
Disturbing to feel more sympathy for the perpetrator than for the victim.
I received a copy of this novel via the wonderful Goodreads First Reads giveaway contest program for readers in exchange for posting an honest review upon completion of the work.I was very excited to read What Was Mine last winter -- due to a lot of good hype I was hearing about it if memory serves (toss-up). Looking back, having read this book and many others this year, I find that somewhat strange. After all, it's a pretty ordinary novel, all things (other books in the English language) considered IMHO. I don't think it's a(n important) work of literary fiction as it does not attempt the sort of formal experimentation and ambitious thematic scope associated with that class of literature (i.e. something valuable to me as a reader). Neither has it proven to be one of the great page-turning thrillers of the season nor managed to develop a following as an unforgettably heartwarming saga readers are bound to remember through the years. And yet, it's been some time since I originally read What Was Mine, and it appears that this slim volume of just 323 pages really did get a hold on me, as it were (can you stomach superfluous Smokey Robinson references, dear reader -- I sure hope so!).My tongue was somewhere in my cheek area for that whole last paragraph, just to be clear. So to speak specifically to the point I try to make plain above, I find that a range of moments and qualities of this particular novel are readily available to my imagination even as my increasingly poor and scattered memory has been crowded with scores of other stories' plots as I've read widely and fairly heavily since I started 2016 with this read. This is an unusual retrospective experience with a read like this for me. Very quietly -- well it must be quiet if I didn't notice immediately, right? ;-) -- I think debut author Helen Klein Ross has created a very special novel for we readers who are lucky enough to engage her work here. I will speak now to my opinions of the plot exposition and character development (if you're into stuff like that). First off, I was a bit concerned the storyline about a baby kidnapping might prove hackneyed or fall flat at some point or altogether, but Ross spins a tale reminiscent of no other that is decidedly satisfying on its own terms. That said, I've concluded that the real star-power draw, if you will ;-), of What Was Mine inheres in the tremendously engaging, textured, and unique mother characters Ross presents vying to bestow their love on one baby and later, one grown young woman. I usually need sophisticated literary prose and/or a thrilling plot line to engage me in fiction, but this time the character-driven novel was perfectly pleasing. I found both women strange and often sympathetic; I had a special relationship with this story because of the particular nature of my sympathetic engagement with these characters despite their flaws and dissimiliarities from my own personality and worldview. For this close reader of James Joyce and late night audiobook listener of that guilty pleasure produced by Paula Hawkins, this is not par for the course. Hawkins's book, which need remain nameless, has some of the most terrible characters I've encountered. Are those supposed to be humans, or is it sci-fi? Women? What? Wherefore? I digress.I think Helen Klein Ross has talent to burn, and I want to see the pages she sets to flame in future. What Was Mine is a worthwhile read I would recommend to a wide audience interested in its basic premise, without reservation. I find that months later this story has stuck with me -- mostly I think because of debut author's Helen Klein Ross's fascinatingly unique, real, textured two would-be mothers of a young girl who is the object of their respective loves. Thanks for reading my thoughts here. Sorry for the goofy writing style (sleep deprivation has this effect on me); I do hope this review will be of use to at least some of you in deciding whether to invest your time and interest in this read.
This was such a thrilling book to read. At the same time, it was also heart-wrenching. Lucy is desperate for a child of her own. She is unable to accept that she cannot have a child. Her obsession eventually drives her husband away. When she encounters a baby in a shopping cart, she hesitates for only a minute before she takes the baby and raises her as her own.I loved how the book set chapters by characters names. Then that chapter was told in their point of view. I really had a hard time reading some of the book because it is upsetting to read the mom's anguish in the aftermath of her daughter's disappearance.This was a book I would definitely recommend. I received a complimentary e-book via Netgalley.com.
I expected more from this story. I missed the climax... I am sure it was somewhere....
I'm sure we've all wondered how desperate a woman would have to be to kidnap a child. The story that isn't usually told is from the perspective of that child and the parents whose child is gone. Those are the best parts of this novel. The kidnapper, Lucy, is surprisingly unsympathetic. She's a good mom, lucky enough to find the perfect nanny, a lovely middle aged Chinese woman who has had to leave her own child back in China to improve her economic circumstances for him. The daughter, Mia, is a pretty typical NYC private school girl. Mia's New Age birth mother Marilyn eventually has three children of her own and never tells them about their lost sister. When Mia is in college, Facebook strikes and all is revealed. The best parts of the book are Mia's challenges and how she grows to accept them. An enjoyable story well told.
Pretty good all in all but there was just something off that I can't put a finger on.
good story line but didn't like the way it ended
I couldn’t put this book down! It was so interesting! Love how it had so many different point of views. It showed the full effect a kidnapping would have on everyone
First, thanks to NetGalley (Gallery Books) for this e-book to enjoy and review.Helen Klein Ross really hit it on the button with this “can't put down” story about a desperate, young mother unable to become pregnant who, without any plan, kidnaps a four month old baby from an Ikea store. Her book carries the reader through the growing years of Mia, with all characters each telling their part in the story, as the chapters evolve, in first person. No sense in telling the ending, but it is a good one!! Great job, Helen Klein Ross – look forward to more from you!