Change Baby: A Novel

by June Spence

After the near death of her mother in a house fire, Avie Goss, a change-of-life baby born nearly a generation after the births of her two siblings, returns to her Southern roots to care for her ailing mother, to try to understand and come to terms with her family's legacy, and to build a new life for herself. A first novel. By the author of Missing Women and Others. 25,000 first printing.

Genres: Fiction

230 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Marian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It is southern in a nice and realistic way (the story is set in a fictional small town near Raleigh) and I found the characters, story and alternating narrator structure interesting.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Change Baby, by June Spence is a slow, very beautifully written, lyrical novel set in the south, which failed to wow me, but enticed me to continue to the end...somehow. None of the characters were very likable, not even those who had already left this earth. The novel centers around some backwoods women of different generations, connected biologically, and otherwise, through and outside marriage. Who was loved by whom? Which mother? Which daughter? Which wife or make believe wife? Which mistress? The novel reads like an old fashioned, rambling, tale, bordering on stream of consciousness. I can't stay I recommend it, other than to say the writing was pitch perfect for the story it tried to tell. It took me too long to finish this one. I was very glad when I did so that I could move on.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Avie Goss is a 'change baby', a baby born to her mother late in life. She has been born almost a generation after her two siblings and truly cannot find her own place in her family. When her mother almost dies in a house fire, Avie returns home to the peaceful Southern lifestyle that she strove to leave behind forever after college. As she cares for her ailing mother, Avie begins to unravel the story of who she is and to discover the secrets of a disappearing picture of life as it used to be. Slowly, as she uncovers her family's legacy, she begins to build a new life for herself in a landscape with which she must come to terms.

I enjoyed this book and as I said, June Spence is a new author for me. I had started this story a few years ago and put it aside after reading a couple of pages. Don't let that scare you though, I really enjoyed this book and give it an A+!

[Lois Duncan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps because I couldn't relate to either the characters or the situations, this book did not hold me interest.

[Shirley J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps just not the right time to read this book. Had a difficult time concentrating on the transitions from past to present events that were revealed within the early chapters. The incentive to feel invested in knowing more about the characters just didn't happen for me. Even though the author writes well, since I have so many other books waiting to be read, I felt I couldn't invest any more time on this one.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

About the family and the title named person who was miraculously born to a 47-year old, in theory, and the difficulties of their lives. A single short chapter about a woman who "gets into trouble" and the negotiations that go on before the act is the best part of an otherwise forgettable novel with characters that are too similar to keep apart and the cringe of oversharing health issues.

[Annemarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An unusual book written in an unusual way. I did enjoy it but started reading another book because it was moving a bit slowly. When I went back to it I followed through to the end and found it satisfying.
I'm not sure I'll read another of June Spence books of this is her writing style.

[Cleo · Rating 4 out of 5]

a little predictable, but the writing made me miss NC.

[Harold Walters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Southern gothic — kinda. That is not a bad thing.

[Erin | snappshelfbooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main character is 24, but reads like she’s 48. Overall, I was kind of bored. The story was back and forth in a choppy way.

[Rhonda]

DNF @ 17%

Too slow and uninteresting for my taste. Hard DNF.

[Jackie Law · Rating 3 out of 5]

p. 125 "Where you thought was solid brick and mortar, all of a sudden a door opens right smack in the center and you wonder why you never saw the light pouring in around the edges before, for the door was always there, it is your seeing has changed."

p. 138 "maybe she considered me a silent partner in the care and feeding of her husband's enormous ego... I didn't like to think I'd been causing her pain instead."

Friday, Sept 29, 2006, having just read that part of the book and feeling its tug on my life's heart strings, the author was our guest speaker in Dr. Duncan's Professional Writing class. The day before, I had lunch with someone I thought of as I read those words and during lunch - he called - not her, but me. Life's synchronicity and irony is not lost on me.

[Bea · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok book--- interesting b/c it is set in NC right out side of Raleigh in some little town called Regina, I kindof imagine it is one of those small country towns along HWY 70, they do go into Raleigh for the hospital and of course I imagine they go to wake med --maybe even on Elizabeth's floor:)

the story is very dark and kindof odd and there is a big secret, i like the main character though...she is about 24 and has spent the last 2-3 years being a mistress to her boss, now she has to come home to help her ailing mom and wants to leave the guy.

if you want to read it let me know, i'd give it to you b/c it was a library booksale purchase so it cost me about $0.04.

[Dana Jennings · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was briefly in a book club with Ms. Spence. She is a warm, kind person with depth. I saw this book as I was walking through the CV library and thought it was time for me to read something she has written. Spence does a masterful job of uncovering the secrets that shadow the various characters, revealing a little here and a little there until the denouement. Her writing is fluid yet crisp. The plot was interesting in how she carefully planned the ultimate reveal. Based in a little town outside of Raleigh, I was comforted by any number of geographical and cultural references that assured me Spence knew the area. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. The multiple perspectives really didn't work for me in this book. I wish the author had just stuck with Avie's story and unraveled the mysteries for the reader as they were answered for Avie. Also, I felt like Avie wasn't particularly sympathetic, and by the end, it seemed like her life was just sort-of where she got stuck. For me, there wasn't much emotional development of the main character, and I wasn't particularly invested in the story. I'm not sure if some of the questions that were answered were supposed to be surprising or not, but everything just felt a little flat.

[Rebecca Defrang · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the book to be well written, and I truly enjoyed it at the beginning. Then, it started to lose some of its focus, and the characters were not developed well (brother, boyfriend, sister) toward the end. But, it was a quick, easy read, and was engaging with so many (perhaps a little far fetched) twists, so I would recommend it as a lazy weekend read.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read, kept me guessing. The search for personal identity begins with the past & it seems that many novels are using this explicitly now. Back, back, back... even for secrets not as big as the protagonist's, perhaps most of us are questing for the secrets that will unravel the mystery of our lives.

[Veronica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I learned that women will read anything that ends with the messed up girl getting the guy. Even if it is as believable as a potty-mouthed/charmingly slutty girl from the city living in sin with a practicing small town minister.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Entertaining enough, but sort of left me with a "now WHAT was the point?" feeling. The main character is an over-sheltered, self absorbed brat and she learns some lessons about herself, her family, loyalty and keeping secrets.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book got much better toward the end.

[Jenny Tomlinson (Ross) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. It had twists and turns you didn't expect, esp for the time period part of it was set in.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, a novel comes my way during this time in my life that parallels it, or at least describes similar circumstances (death of a parent/caregiving).

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this story about middle America. Not at all the chick-lit story I thought at first.

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

great