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Baby Love
In their New Hampshire community, Sandy, Jill, Tara, and Wanda are different from other teenage girls. Jill is pregnant, while the other three are already mothers. Sandy, at eighteen, is married. Tara, the product of a broken family, is raising her baby alone. Wanda, with her three-month-old, still manages to date despite the demands of motherhood.
Though their situations are different, the girls are united by their baby love. When two childless women arrive from out of town, the young mothers quickly capture their attention. But just as the women's worlds begin to intertwine, a catastrophe threatens to sweep through town--and change their lives forever.
Though their situations are different, the girls are united by their baby love. When two childless women arrive from out of town, the young mothers quickly capture their attention. But just as the women's worlds begin to intertwine, a catastrophe threatens to sweep through town--and change their lives forever.
- GenresFictionContemporary
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
154 people are currently reading
530 people want to read
About the author
Joyce Maynard
57 books2,841 followersJoyce Maynard first came to national attention with the publication of her New York Times cover story “An Eighteen-Year-Old Looks Back on Life” in 1973, when she was a freshman at Yale. Since then, she has been a reporter and columnist for The New York Times, a syndicated newspaper columnist whose “Domestic Affairs” column appeared in more than fifty papers nationwide, a regular contributor to NPR. Her writing has also been published in national magazines, including O, The Oprah Magazine; Newsweek; The New York Times Magazine; Forbes; Salon; San Francisco Magazine, USA Weekly; and many more. She has appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Charlie Rose, and on Fresh Air. Essays of hers appear in numerous collections. She has been a fellow at Yaddo, UCross, and The MacDowell Colony, where she wrote her most recently published novel, Labor Day.
The author of many books of fiction and nonfiction, including the novel To Die For (in which she also plays the role of Nicole Kidman’s attorney) and the bestselling memoir, At Home in the World, Maynard makes her home in Mill Valley, California. Her novel, The Usual Rules—a story about surviving loss—has been a favorite of book club audiences of all ages, and was chosen by the American Library Association as one of the ten best books for young readers for 2003.
Joyce Maynard also runs the Lake Atitlan Writing Workshop in Guatemala, founded in 2002.
The author of many books of fiction and nonfiction, including the novel To Die For (in which she also plays the role of Nicole Kidman’s attorney) and the bestselling memoir, At Home in the World, Maynard makes her home in Mill Valley, California. Her novel, The Usual Rules—a story about surviving loss—has been a favorite of book club audiences of all ages, and was chosen by the American Library Association as one of the ten best books for young readers for 2003.
Joyce Maynard also runs the Lake Atitlan Writing Workshop in Guatemala, founded in 2002.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
November 29, 2013
That's it! I'm done...
It now seems pretty clear to me that I really have to stop reading books rated less than 4/5 on Goodreads.
I know, it's elitist and it's a shame that I deprive myself from many books. But I really have to learn my lesson.
Why have I read this book?
Because I'm interested in the subject.
I disregarded the rating on Goodreads telling myself that the subject interested me. Thus I had a good chance to like the book better than other readers.
But let's face it, other readers probably told themselves the same thing. And I confirm after them that this book really isn't a good read.
We meet four teenage mums.
The first one is married and lives a "dream", even though her husband is from my point of vue a real looser and her life is boring.
The second one is huge and brutalises her baby.
The third one lives with her mum and dreams about leaving that crappy town.
The fourth and last one lives with her parents and gets pregnant again! And she doesn't know where to find the money to get an abortion.
Her father, although he's still married to his loving wife, falls in love with her young neighbour who just got into town after leaving her young daughter to her ex-boyfriend who is 30 years older than her.
Nice huh?
Well, even after those depressing portraits, I told myself why not?! We're going to follow those poor girls and see how they get through things.
But the story really isn't a bit interesting, and going a little crazy.
A sociopath killer even appears! With disgusting tortures descriptions.
No that time, I really have to learn my lesson. No more books rated less than 4/5.
It now seems pretty clear to me that I really have to stop reading books rated less than 4/5 on Goodreads.
I know, it's elitist and it's a shame that I deprive myself from many books. But I really have to learn my lesson.
Why have I read this book?
Because I'm interested in the subject.
I disregarded the rating on Goodreads telling myself that the subject interested me. Thus I had a good chance to like the book better than other readers.
But let's face it, other readers probably told themselves the same thing. And I confirm after them that this book really isn't a good read.
We meet four teenage mums.
The first one is married and lives a "dream", even though her husband is from my point of vue a real looser and her life is boring.
The second one is huge and brutalises her baby.
The third one lives with her mum and dreams about leaving that crappy town.
The fourth and last one lives with her parents and gets pregnant again! And she doesn't know where to find the money to get an abortion.
Her father, although he's still married to his loving wife, falls in love with her young neighbour who just got into town after leaving her young daughter to her ex-boyfriend who is 30 years older than her.
Nice huh?
Well, even after those depressing portraits, I told myself why not?! We're going to follow those poor girls and see how they get through things.
But the story really isn't a bit interesting, and going a little crazy.
A sociopath killer even appears! With disgusting tortures descriptions.
No that time, I really have to learn my lesson. No more books rated less than 4/5.
November 21, 2023
This was crazy. I've written before about books from the 80s and 90s that do the transient omniscient POV and I was excited to run into another one here and one that is so specifically skillful and with so much forward motion. For the first 10% or so I was worried I was never going to be able to get a handle on the characters because there were so many with so little specificity but I persisted and was rewarded with an almost concentric story where it kept cycling back through the characters even as it brought new ones in, spiraling through just-- increasingly insane events until each story reaches its inescapable end. This was deeply a product of its time, full of horrifying characters and events, and done with a skilled if not particularly subtle hand. I had a compelling time!
January 1, 2023
NAHH THIS WAS A WHOLE SHIT SHOW some parts were super cute it had its moments!!! But it was so creepy 👎🏻 the cute parts did NOTTT make up for the absolute dog shit that was the relationships and povs of these characters idc if its some ironic yale grad school type shit its creepy its bad its trash yuck
February 2, 2020
The premise sounded interesting to me, but here is my review. No, just...no.
November 26, 2015
I only downloaded this book because it was a $1.99. I was sitting a long time in a doctor's office with no purse book so started Baby Love. Thinking I
Would only read it over the course of a long time when in waiting situations.
I was immediately drawn in by the chatty,easy style of writing. If this book had been only about a stupid bunch of high school juniors in some pregnancy plot I would have given up.
The novel has more stories going on and is much more than multiple teen moms and pregnancies.
There are many character to keep track of but the author makes you keep reading on to see what happens.
This book was published in 1981 when I was a young woman. I get a kick out of multiple cultural mentions from that time.
Also, there are themes from both Maynard's own life experiences and future novels she will write.
Not a bad read for $1.99. Always a good sign when I have no trouble sticking with a book these days!
Would only read it over the course of a long time when in waiting situations.
I was immediately drawn in by the chatty,easy style of writing. If this book had been only about a stupid bunch of high school juniors in some pregnancy plot I would have given up.
The novel has more stories going on and is much more than multiple teen moms and pregnancies.
There are many character to keep track of but the author makes you keep reading on to see what happens.
This book was published in 1981 when I was a young woman. I get a kick out of multiple cultural mentions from that time.
Also, there are themes from both Maynard's own life experiences and future novels she will write.
Not a bad read for $1.99. Always a good sign when I have no trouble sticking with a book these days!
April 18, 2016
I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me a bit of Doris Lessing. Maynard is really rather negative (or just realistic?) and it is certainly not a Disney-ending. Instead, she manages to weave a story about many (15?) characters in a small town in Vermont that just feels real. The focus is on pregnancy and young motherhood (with a special emphasis on YOUNG mothers), but all of these people interact with each other in unique ways. They are not all stupid girls who got themselves knocked up; they are individual personalities with selfish goals doing their best to get what they want. It might have been a bit too simplistic that they all overlap so much (especially Jill and Tara running into each other at the abortion clinic in Concord and Wayne pumping gas for Greg at the end), but then again it is a small town. It is not pretty, but there are many true moments.
October 15, 2007
Somehow my friends and I picked this up at a garage sale (I believe it was at the Sheridan town hall) in a pile of free stuff. It was the first graphic romance novel I got my paws on. I must have been 11 or 12. It's a laughably bad book, but I have to give it three stars since it was the first smut book I read. Good times...
October 24, 2017
I read this book over 30 years ago as a new mother. I found the book in a used book fair. Maynard did an excellent job portraying teenage moms and their self centered views of new babies and motherhood. Her prose is on target with that of teenagers. I enjoyed her portrayal of the characters more than the actual plot.
July 14, 2018
I'm biased, I'll admit it. Can't get enough of Ms. Maynard. This was her first book and it features pregnancy in all its permutations in a small town with so few options pregnancy is one of the few answers to boredom.
The story has good pacing and captures the lunacy of a middle aged woman aching to have a baby and then doing something about it.
Tragedy ensues..
5/5
The story has good pacing and captures the lunacy of a middle aged woman aching to have a baby and then doing something about it.
Tragedy ensues..
5/5
January 13, 2010
Intricate storyline. Amazingly simple straight forward tone of voice with the sharpest and sometimes darkest obeservations. A hidden masterpiece!
August 26, 2013
Storyline was hard to follow at times, seemed rambling and chaotic. But that only added to my enjoyment of it! Thought it was a good book!
February 2, 2017
Un bon petit roman.très féminin léger rafraîchissant.
December 4, 2023
This book was deeply weird. I liked The Good Daughters by the same author, which is more of a straightforward drama. This is ... nothing like that. It's got a bit of a screwball comedy flavor, with different people bouncing off each other in increasingly bizarro ways, and a few characters and scenarios that definitely belong in a screwball comedy more so than anywhere else (for instance, when a troupe of hippies bursts into a secondhand store and someone gives birth on the floor). But it's also too serious to be a screwball comedy, with almost all the characters having some degree of ennui and disappointment with their lives, and a few frankly disturbing scenarios that get the same screwball treatment as everything else. The disturbing stuff isn't treated like it's ok, but it's stated very matter-of-factly. Also, this was written in 1981, and has a lot more tolerance for relationships between young girls and older men versus now, so has multiple places it plays with this--though none of them go much of anywhere during the story, the story seems to be pointing out that it's maybe not the best idea in the world, and the only *currently* established couples in this age bracket don't fall into this, with the partners close in age.
What can I say? I raced through this, but I think partly because I was reading to see if it got to be any more like what I'd been expecting. It did not, though it did a good job for what it was. If you find this description intriguing, you'd probably like it.
What can I say? I raced through this, but I think partly because I was reading to see if it got to be any more like what I'd been expecting. It did not, though it did a good job for what it was. If you find this description intriguing, you'd probably like it.
April 16, 2023
Fin des années 70, Sandy, Tara, Wanda et Jill sont quatre jeunes filles mères qui aiment se retrouver sur les marches de la laverie dans la rue principale, pour se raconter leurs histoires.
Je suis extrêmement mitigée quant à mon avis sur ce livre !
Premièrement, la répartition des chapitres et paragraphes est un vrai casse tête, on passe de l'une à l'autre des filles sans comprendre qui est qui. C'était frustrant d'incompréhension.
Deuxièmement, l'histoire ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard. On raconte ces filles mères qui vivent pour leurs bébés, leur dévouent l'entièreté de leur existence malgré tous les nuisibles autour. Il n'y a pas de réelle intrigue, ni de chute.
( Vous devez sûrement vous demander pourquoi je l'ai fini si c'était si terrible. On y arrive 😅)
Troisièmement, et c'est ce qui m'a parmi d'apprécier ma lecture malgré tout; la plume de Joyce Maynard est juste captivante ! Elle trouve les mots justes et l'intonation exacte pour rendre son récit intriguant bien qu'il n'y ait aucun mystère.
J'ai quand même été déçue, la quatrième de couverture promettait plus d'action, mais on a un aperçu significatif que ce qu'est d'être une jeune femme fin 70, lors de la libération sexuelle.
Joyce Maynard a tout de même retenu mon attention et je souhaite renouveler l'expérience de lire un de ses romans !
Je suis extrêmement mitigée quant à mon avis sur ce livre !
Premièrement, la répartition des chapitres et paragraphes est un vrai casse tête, on passe de l'une à l'autre des filles sans comprendre qui est qui. C'était frustrant d'incompréhension.
Deuxièmement, l'histoire ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard. On raconte ces filles mères qui vivent pour leurs bébés, leur dévouent l'entièreté de leur existence malgré tous les nuisibles autour. Il n'y a pas de réelle intrigue, ni de chute.
( Vous devez sûrement vous demander pourquoi je l'ai fini si c'était si terrible. On y arrive 😅)
Troisièmement, et c'est ce qui m'a parmi d'apprécier ma lecture malgré tout; la plume de Joyce Maynard est juste captivante ! Elle trouve les mots justes et l'intonation exacte pour rendre son récit intriguant bien qu'il n'y ait aucun mystère.
J'ai quand même été déçue, la quatrième de couverture promettait plus d'action, mais on a un aperçu significatif que ce qu'est d'être une jeune femme fin 70, lors de la libération sexuelle.
Joyce Maynard a tout de même retenu mon attention et je souhaite renouveler l'expérience de lire un de ses romans !
August 31, 2024
An overall interesting, menacing story with a hint of Joyce Carol Oates but without her depth. The literary device Maynard uses is to introduce a myriad of disconnected characters, then connect them, which makes the narrative filmic: one character appears in another's story as perspectives abruptly change. It all leads to a climactic scene in an abortion clinic, and a decidedly anticlimactic ending where tension builds up to - nothing. What is prominent is the authorial disinterest in what will happen to the characters, which I guess also means that Maynard sets them free by leaving them, ultimately, to their own devices.
A magyar fordításról: többnyire n. jó, kicsit körülményes, de ez nem zavaró. Viszont néha nem követhető, ki a beszélő és a tárgy a mondatban; nyilván az angolban segít a háromnemű személyes névmás, de ez azért eléggé alap. (Sokkal erősebben jelentkezett uez a probléma Yrsa ......dóttir Préda c. könyvében, ahol tényleg nem lehetett tudni, kiről olvasunk éppen.) A lazy Susan lusta kis Susanként fordítása üt :) De nyilván minden szöveg és a fordítása is korának terméke.
A magyar fordításról: többnyire n. jó, kicsit körülményes, de ez nem zavaró. Viszont néha nem követhető, ki a beszélő és a tárgy a mondatban; nyilván az angolban segít a háromnemű személyes névmás, de ez azért eléggé alap. (Sokkal erősebben jelentkezett uez a probléma Yrsa ......dóttir Préda c. könyvében, ahol tényleg nem lehetett tudni, kiről olvasunk éppen.) A lazy Susan lusta kis Susanként fordítása üt :) De nyilván minden szöveg és a fordítása is korának terméke.
May 5, 2018
Malgré un début un peu lent, l'histoire prend rapidement de l'intérêt. On découvre les différentes facettes des portraits féminins (et certains masculins), en se rendant peu à peu compte de toutes les réalités, pas toujours très jolies.
L'écriture est facile est accomplit parfaitement le travail.
Seul bémol, la fin, qui se veut ouverte, mais qui laisse sur sa faim, puisque l'histoire s'achève abruptement. On aurait aimé que ce final soit plus travaillé, afin qu'on 'ai pas l'impression qu'il manque des pages, coupées au beau milieu de l'action.
L'écriture est facile est accomplit parfaitement le travail.
Seul bémol, la fin, qui se veut ouverte, mais qui laisse sur sa faim, puisque l'histoire s'achève abruptement. On aurait aimé que ce final soit plus travaillé, afin qu'on 'ai pas l'impression qu'il manque des pages, coupées au beau milieu de l'action.
July 14, 2025
Quatre jeunes femmes (la plus jeune a 18 ans) vivent une maternité précoce dans une petite ville des États-Unis. Je ne retrouve pas le réconfort habituel qui vient avec la lecture des œuvres de cette autrice. En fait, il faut souvent que je prenne des pauses de lecture parce que certains passages me dérangent profondément. Aussi, c’est peut-être la canicule, mais au début, j’étais vraiment confuse dans les personnages, peut-être parce que la division des parties de récit ne se fait souvent que d’un paragraphe à un autre. Tout compte fait, j’ai plutôt été déçue par cet ouvrage.
September 29, 2025
Nem, egyszerűen nem...
A koncepció, hogy tinianyák életébe láthatunk bele tök jól hangzik, de ez a könyv...
Először is túl sok a szereplő. A könyv elején simán kevertem őket. Ehhez az is hozzátesz, hogy túl gyakran váltakoznak a nézőpontok, és sokszor fel se tűnik, mert nincs elválasztás (gondolom, szerkesztési hiba).
Másodszor, túl sokat volt a hangsúly a szexen. Mármint oké, tinik, máson se jár az eszük meg miegymás, de basszus, leszarom; én az anyaság nehézségeiről akarok olvasni.
És az egészre rátesz egy lapáttal a "wtf befejezés" is.
A koncepció, hogy tinianyák életébe láthatunk bele tök jól hangzik, de ez a könyv...
Először is túl sok a szereplő. A könyv elején simán kevertem őket. Ehhez az is hozzátesz, hogy túl gyakran váltakoznak a nézőpontok, és sokszor fel se tűnik, mert nincs elválasztás (gondolom, szerkesztési hiba).
Másodszor, túl sokat volt a hangsúly a szexen. Mármint oké, tinik, máson se jár az eszük meg miegymás, de basszus, leszarom; én az anyaság nehézségeiről akarok olvasni.
És az egészre rátesz egy lapáttal a "wtf befejezés" is.
December 11, 2016
This is definitely quite different from the other books by Ms Maynard that I've read. Also, as a fellow Melissa born in the late 70's, I really identified with baby Melissa and just wanted to reach into the book and rescue her! The ending felt quite abrupt, but I'm still glad I finally got my hands on a copy of this and read it.
November 8, 2019
Four teenage mothers, four lives linked by this likeness.
Joyce Maynard writes with deceptive simplicity and great compassion which is not immediately obvious. Who is interested in reading about four teenage moms and their small town lives? Nobody really, but Maynard gives each of them an honest voice with stories that pack a punch.
Such skilled writing, love her work.
Joyce Maynard writes with deceptive simplicity and great compassion which is not immediately obvious. Who is interested in reading about four teenage moms and their small town lives? Nobody really, but Maynard gives each of them an honest voice with stories that pack a punch.
Such skilled writing, love her work.
November 21, 2025
Baby love at the spine, and adult love sprawling across the pages.
Set in small town 70’s (I assume), Baby love wraps its characters in lust, hope, and constricted concepts of freedom.
The men long to be free from the women, the women long to be free from disappointment, and the babies haven’t developed enough to long for anything just yet.
It’s an engrossing world with many characters
Set in small town 70’s (I assume), Baby love wraps its characters in lust, hope, and constricted concepts of freedom.
The men long to be free from the women, the women long to be free from disappointment, and the babies haven’t developed enough to long for anything just yet.
It’s an engrossing world with many characters
January 23, 2018
Really good book. Would have been 5 stars but the ending was a real let down. I literally turned the page and thought "this can't be the end of this book!" I am so tired of authors writing books where they expect the reader to form their own conclusions. It just feels unfinished.
May 30, 2021
Jumps from character to character until I finally had to make a score card! It did cover many topics of teenage pregnancies, teenage motherhood, maternal clocks clicking away, and loss souls .... in a choppy sort of way I did finish, enjoyed some parts, but, can't say I'd recommend it to anyone!
December 18, 2023
A jigsaw puzzle of a book. It introduces a number of
Dysfunctional characters who interact in various
Ways. I wanted to give up at times, but stuck with it.
Joyce Maynard is one of my favorite authors, but this book is not her best.
Dysfunctional characters who interact in various
Ways. I wanted to give up at times, but stuck with it.
Joyce Maynard is one of my favorite authors, but this book is not her best.
December 13, 2017
That was a very strange book.
April 25, 2019
There's not one likable character in this book. Unless you count the babies of teenaged (age16) mothers. At the point where one mother slaps her baby I was out.
December 22, 2019
Bought this book in 1981 when it first came out and it blew me away. Bought it 5 more times bc I kept giving it away. Always blows me away
October 18, 2021
Reading Joyce Maynard's latest, Count The Ways, made me want to go back and reread the first of her books that I ever read, the wonderful Baby Love. It is still wonderful.
Read
January 5, 2023I didn’t enjoy this one. I’ve always liked her books but I couldn’t get into this book.
March 8, 2024
There’s a lot going on here in this 1981 novel by Joyce Maynard. I am wondering if I would have appreciated it more if I had read it during that time period. (3.5 stars)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews