Other People's Children

November 1, 2020

DEBUT Gail and Jon Durbin want nothing more than to make their family complete with a baby. But after three miscarriages, it just isn't happening, so they decide to adopt. Carli, an 18-year-old high school student, got pregnant and, after looking through numerous prospective parent profiles, chooses the Durbins to adopt her baby. But Carli's mother, Marla, has other ideas. She doesn't want Carli to give up her baby when she can raise her by herself--with the help of Marla, of course. But that is Marla's motherly guilt speaking, as she was not there to raise Carli and her sister. When Carli attempts to reclaim her child from Gail and Jon, three mothers, three decisions, and three threads weave together to create a life for a baby. VERDICT Hoffman's debut is powerful with strong, well-developed characters. The decisions they must make are gut-wrenching, particularly those of Gail and Carli. The story takes turn after hairpin turn, moving into domestic suspense, that will have readers waiting with bated breath until the conclusion; even then, they'll be left to wonder if there is more.--Erin Holt, formerly at Williamson Cty. P.L., Franklin, TN

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 18, 2021
Hoffmann’s riveting debut is a high-stakes exploration of how far people will go to protect their family. Despite three miscarriages and failed adoption attempts, Gail Durbin remains determined to become a mother. Her husband, Jon, though supportive, is less sure about parenthood. After being abandoned by his own father and neglected by his mentally unstable mother, Jon is terrified of becoming a terrible parent himself. Then, Carli, a poor, pregnant 18-year-old, chooses Jon and Gail as the prospective adoptive parents of her unborn child. Once baby Maya arrives, Jon realizes that caring for Maya will give him a chance to be a successful father; Gail feels complete and hopeful for the first time in years; Carli grapples with what her future will look like without her daughter as she struggles to attend community college and eke out an existence more promising than living with her abusive mother; and Carli’s mother, Marla, resorts to callous, violent tactics to get the Durbins to return her granddaughter. What results is a nail-biting examination of socioeconomic disparity and loyalty as Maya’s future hangs precariously in the balance. Hoffmann’s believable characters don’t disappoint, and his engrossing look at fraught issues piques. This sharp tale of heartache, loss, and redemption resonates. (Apr.)Correction: An earlier version of this review misspelled the author's last name. It also incorrectly referred to him as a woman in one instance.

March 1, 2021
After several heartbreaking miscarriages, Gail and Jon Durbin decide to adopt. With their marriage fraying because of the stress and unrealized expectations, they are overjoyed when eighteen-year-old Carli chooses them to adopt her unborn baby, while she is determined to go to college and prove to her abusive mother Marla that there is more to her and to life. The Durbin's happiness is magnified when they bring baby Maya home from the hospital. This joy soon turns to sorrow when Carli, under pressure from her mother and grappling with an emptiness since giving up her Maya, does not sign the paperwork to finalize the adoption. Their world turned upside down, the Durbins react in a surprising way. Hoffmann writes with care and compassion about parental love, loss, trauma, and families. Multiple points of view help readers to see each character from different angles and saves some characters, like Marla, from what could just be a stereotype. While the ending is a little too pat, Hoffmann's debut showcases a riveting narrative. With plenty to discuss, this is an excellent pick for book discussion groups.

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March 1, 2021
A well-to-do Chicagoland couple's dreams of having a child are finally fulfilled when a barely scraping by teen picks them as the parents-to-be of her unborn child. But after the baby arrives and joins her new family, things become much more complicated. How far would you go to keep your family together? After a number of miscarriages, Gail and Jon Durbin are willing to put it all on the line to keep their newborn, Maya, with them. The fact that her teen birth mother, Carli, can't sign the final consent form for the adoption until 72 hours past the birth is a detail that they do not pay enough attention to, particularly in light of the ferocity of Carli's mother, Marla, in the hospital when she meets Maya and realizes she is losing her first grandchild to strangers. But family is everything, and after an idyllic few days Gail simply cannot comprehend a world where her daughter--her and Jon's daughter--can simply be taken away. This book deals with weighty, emotional relationships. What makes a mother? A family? Debut author Hoffmann has done a good job of looking at the unseemly corners as well as the bright spots of married and family life--the fights, the anger, the love, the willingness to put it all on the line to support the person you love when they fall down, and the damage that you can cause with your own failings. So often books elide the consequences of fictional characters' illegal choices. Kudos to Hoffmann for holding his characters to account for their choices and actions while still leaving the reader with a hopeful ending. A can't-put-it-down novel that will live in readers' thoughts long after they finish reading.

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