Someone Else's Child: A Novel

by Nancy Woodruff

From debut novelist Nancy Woodruff comes this chilling and beautifully wrought story of forgiveness, renewal, and the ever-elusive second chance. When fifteen-year-old Matt and his family move from Oregon to an affluent Connecticut suburb, the fact that he is home-schooled brands him as more than an outsider -- he is a town oddity. Just when he seems to have made inroads into the closed social circuit, just when he is embraced by a trio of teenage girls and feels his life might be changing for the better, he is responsible for a devastating car crash that leaves two of the girls dead. Tara isn't in the car with her best friends. Instead, she's by her mother Jennie's bedside as she gives birth to a baby girl. While Jennie and her husband Chris mourn Tara's friends, and try to make sense of their eldest daughter's loss and their own new baby, a pervasive sense of blame begins to rain down on Matt. Jennie knows the community's reaction will surely ruin Matt's life. But when she reaches out to him, hiring him to work for her high school reunion company for the summer, Jennie suddenly finds herself vilified as well. In the face of community and family derision, both imagined and real, physical and emotional, Jennie and Matt soon find themselves in solidarity.As their attachment grows, Jennie realizes that she is bound to Matt by more than just compassion -- that the broken child she sought to save is, somehow, reviving her. Someone Else's Child is a deeply moving story of guilt and forgiveness, despair and hope, and the intricacies of love and responsibility. In rich and unforgettable prose, Nancy Woodruff masterfully explores the fraying loyalties that can turn our world upside down in the face of tragedy.

Genres: Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published July 5, 2000

Reviews

[Ronnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a very pleasant surprise...it was so real and full of truth to me. Beautifully written!

[Denise Goodkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story with a few good insights.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started really well but got a bit ridiculous and predictable at the end.

[Darlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book to read. It dealt with teenagers and the choices they made that changed four families forever. It addressed the consequences of making the choice to drink, drive without a license and one simple mistake that took two lives, changed two more and split the families of the kids. This was an easy read, and should be read by teens to show them what can happen in an instant that can change lives forever. It also dealt with a young teen forming a bond with the parent of one of the girls he had become friends with and even "falling in love with the mom" because she showed him that someone still cared about him other then his family and treated him with respect and never blamed him for the accident that took the lives of her daughters best friends. Even her daughter after awhile came around and didn't blame him for forever changing her life and taking her best friends away from her. With each page, you felt something for everyone involved. As a parent reading it, you think this could have happened to you, or someone you know and you thank God it didn't. You also put yourself in the shoes of the families that lost their daughters and try to think how you would feel towards the one that was driving that caused the accident. Would you hate this person forever or could you forgive them?

[CaseyKS. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished Someone Else's Child on 7-30-11 and it was told from the persepective of a young man who had gotten in an accident and killed two young girls. The other half of the book was told from the mother of the young girls' friend who was dealing with life without 2 best friends. It started out reallly good but then I felt the story drug on and it was difficult for me to read. I felt that there were a lot of details that weren't needed in the story. Some of the relationships talked about in the book were not all that relevant to the overall story. The ending disappointed me a little and I felt that instead of all the details in the middle of the story the author could have taken that out and put more detail into the ending so that there was closure on the overall story. The author told of some relationships and then they just ended and I felt that if she would have expanded on that it would have made for a complete ending to the story. It was an okay story but nothing that made me want to spend a lot of time reading it.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of lives intersecting lives in so many ways all at the same time. Decisions are made and affect the lives of many. How do you respond when tragedy happens? Where do your loyalties lie? With whom do you sympathize? Who do you blame? Can you forgive? Should someone pay? Do you want to reach out and help? How far will you go? All these are questions that must be answered over time. Tragedy happens and life, and those who live it, are never the same.

[Joan Roll · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a novel about a teen driver who is in an accident that kills friends but he survives. The storyline has a few new twists about forgiveness and relationships. Since it is a debut novel, I do give that author kudos for intertwining guilt, forgiveness, love, and revival into a familiar story idea in a new way. However, I felt that the conclusion was hinted at, and likely expected, but hurried at the end and not adequately developed.

[Nykk Guagliardo]

I actually picked this up in a Dollar Store needing to keep my mind sane. I had no real reason of being there. I just ended up looking at the books. I do not like to read much but this book stood out at me. I read most of it in one sitting. Drawn into the story, I could not put it down. I eventually put it down. Over half way through, I need to continue the story.

[Jody · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow another new author I picked up and loved it! Different as told from a 16 year old home schooled boy and a 30-40 something year old mom of his new friend. I know it sounds like they are going to have an affair, steaming blah blah, not at all, highly recommend!

[Mandi Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest I loved the story and plot, but found myself arguing with the characters and their motives. The way relationships by almost every character was despicable. I have to admit, that's the only reason for the lower rating.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all time favorite books. It was perhaps the first book I ever read that dealt with the topic of guilt in a complex manner.

[Casey · Rating 2 out of 5]

A passable plot. It could have turnd into something more tantalizing with a stronger ending.

[Dana Proffet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book that I couldn't put down. It had me thinking about how I would feel. Would recommend this to anyone.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was pretty good, a better book than I was afraid it was going to be. Not remarkable!