Rokitansky

by Alice Darwin

"Both gripping - I read it in one sitting - and deeply moving, staying In your thoughts long after you've finished." EVENING STANDARD

"Rokitansky is an incredibly moving and ultimately uplifting book, with a twist that will have you reaching for the tissues, and then starting from the beginning again. I challenge any woman not to relate to the emotions experienced by these sensitively drawn characters." STYLIST MAGAZINE

Three women. Three stories. Three secrets.

When school girl Moira Sweeney is diagnosed with a rare condition, it changes everything. She had known for as long as she could remember that something was wrong, what she didn't know was what happened next.

When Tori looks in the mirror, she sees a successful travel writer, happily married to Harry. Everything is just as it should be. Almost. She is all he ever wanted and less, so much less.

Mrs Brown knows she's getting too old to run Godalming Lodge. Her arthritis and her heart ache and she longs to spend more time with her husband and less time with elderly residents and her never ending pile of paperwork.

Three women, with three stories of love, hope and childlessness and three secrets that connect them all.

Genres: Fiction

360 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2014

About the author

Alice Darwin lives Surrey, with her husband and dog. She enjoys writing stories that she hopes others will enjoy.

Reviews

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Born with this condition myself, reading the first chapter was like going back to when I was 16 visiting my local doctors and then going to hospital for a examination and finding out I can never have Children. Lots of tears cried reading it. I am 44 now and it is still very painful. Well done to Alice Darwin writing about this subject and hopefully making other people aware of this condition especially Doctors and others in the medical profession, as I still have to explain what is wrong with me to them. Warning......Make sure you have plenty of tissues handy when you read this brilliant book xxx

[Kelci · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such AN INCREDIBLE READ. Alice did an AMAZING job portraying the most predominant emotions individuals face with this syndrome.
I won't give away the ending, but I was NOT expecting it. It was both happy and sad. Will definitely read again.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've ever read. I wish I could've read it when I was a teenager.

[Jenny Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, that was certainly a twist! I don't want to give anything away so I'll stop right there. A very good book, i couldn't put it down and had to force myself to stop reading and go to sleep last night, then immediately woke up to finish it this morning (and missed my Sunday morning yoga class as a result)

If you haven't read this book yet then i suggest it for sure, i laughed and cried - sometimes both at the same time! It was a hard read at times, facing situations I've gone through or reading about experiences i know would've been similar to real life had i chosen certain paths.

I'm grateful to the author for sharing this book with the world. It's a great story, whether you have mrkh or not, and it does a wonderful job of spreading information of the syndrome to the world and sharing our stories on our terms, showing the emotional facets of what we go through and how having this syndrome affects us so much more than just not being able to carry children.

Jenny

[Jennifer Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

So few women have this condition and so few medical professionals even know what it is, to the point where they struggle to show empathy; they just do not understand. This is such a difficult and emotional time for a young and it's difficult to comprehend what's going on with her body. To know that there are women out there that go through the same thing is heartwarming, to say the least. And a work like this, even though it's fictional, should be available to all girls when diagnosed, to help them acheive a better understanding and know they are not alone!

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh thanks heavens I am not the only one that didn't get the twist earlier on. I always worry I am the only one who didn't get it. What a silly thing to worry about, really. I had never heard of Rokitansky Syndrome, which is apparently not a surprise, and I like to learn things when I read. It was quite a tear jerker. Tori's story line was very sad. I have a friend who has undergone IVF and was always so strong and positive throughout. I enjoyed the author interview at the end also.

[Azra Hodzic · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great emotional book that follows a girl in three different life stages but you don't know that until the end. This one made me cry...with the ugly crying face. It is written in the third person which makes the story flow nicely. This is definitely for a high schooler and older. It's an eye opener that their are other women struggling with this symptom and how lonely it must be.

[Sofie Rask · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have MRKH and I felt very seen while reading this book. There was so much I could relate to and so many of my fears of the future were shared in this book. The book gave me a feeling of being less alone in my infertility. I also think it's a great book to read, if you are someone who wants to learn more about infertility and the worries and feelings that come along with it.

[Leandra Withers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the set up of the book. I’d say more but I’d have to click spoiler alert. Takes you to the depths of her self-doubt, sorrow and fears as a woman and shows how deeply it can effect every aspect of life, from dating, to friendships, and marriage.

[Laura (Books, Interrupted) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This made me tear up in a few places, but I loved it! I'm so glad I waited to read this book at a time when I was in a good place with my own diagnosis. If I hadn't waited, I'd have cried through every chapter.

[Tina Harbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone with MRKH, this book was emotional and hit some triggers I thought I worked through. Have tissues ready, my MRKH sisters! For non MRKH peeps this is definitely a great book if you know someone or even if you don't in infertility and the emotions that go with it.

[MARGO · Rating 2 out of 5]

boring

I found this book to be extremely boring and poorly written. It could have been much better done as the subject is interesting

[Célina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay so I'm gonna re-write a review bc the first one vanished (yes, I was thrilled) and I hope it won't suck too much.

I just finished the book. First, it told me about the Rokitansky syndrome -which I knew nothing about- and how it's lived at the different stages of a woman's life : Betrayal - Guilt - Some sort of acceptance, I guess.
I like to think of it as a "it gets better" like no matter what life throws at you, you'll be fine. Having a child is wonderful. Being able to conceive is however, not what makes a woman. I hope that's what Moira realized too, to be honest. Because after the IVF failed, they obviously decided to adopt but we don't know why. I decided that it was because Moira finally accepted that she didn't need to prove anything and thus, that her child didn't need to share her genes to be hers. She grew up. And I was thrilled to see her grow up. Even taken as 3 different characters, the character development made me proud. So yeah, I'm really proud of the characters and of how far they've come. We see Moira growing more confident about her body. Then she's Tori and Tori is this young woman full of life which will do anything to achieve her dream (and she also has Harry who is a wonderful character because he is most of all a wonderful human being even with his flaws. He loves her so deeply just yeah, Tori wasn't given the best cards at birth, so what? She built herself a good life). And Mrs Brown who doesn't remember anything past the Tori-phase. She remembers Harry, she remembers the IVF failing but she doesn't mention how different she feels or how she never had children, how she's not enough of a woman. So I feel like she accepted it. She doesn't know she eventually had a child and she's not mourning. That's the best character development I could have hoped for. We can see the characters grow, not only into women, but growing as human beings. Or, maybe learning to dissociate being a woman from being able to give birth. I am not sure but either way it works for me.
I'm really sorry for not giving one of those short but meaningful reviews because I don't know what to say, honestly. Mostly, I read this book as a message of self acceptance, of hope, of growing. There were intimacy and truth : the perfect cocktail for such a personal subject.
I hesitated about while rating it because it is a good book. So it was either a 4 or a 5. But I reserve my 5 stars for my absolute favorites so I wasn't so sure. It would deserve 5 tbh, I might change my rating I'm not sure yet. (I'd give 4.5 if I could). It's just that I wasn't very found of the Mrs Brown parts bc I immediately understood what was going on and it's not the most active part of the book, let's face it. But it's also probably because of the age difference. I'm a bit older than Moira (or maybe the same age by the end) so I could identify with her and with Tori too because we're pretty close too. And, I really wanted to know what would happen in there lives (I had my suspicions about the one-character thing but since the names where different I tried to let the author lead me the way she intended to). So, that's why I didn't rate the book with 5 stars but 4.

[Anna Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author's debut is an impressive one. She tackles a serious subject matter, and these women's experiences of it, with a winning combination of wit and emotion. It made me laugh and cry - sometimes both at the same time! It's brilliant, moving, thoroughly enjoyable and a gripping read. A beautifully designed cover too. I finished the book in a weekend and I'll definitely be looking out for her next novel!

[Jodie Coughlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I also bought this book solely because I have the syndrome shared by the characters. It was personally difficult to read due to being able to fully relate to the women and the many memories it brought back to me. However, I thought Alice did a great job of raising awareness of MRKH through fiction and I enjoyed many aspects of the story and will be recommending it to others.

[SPG · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that the author did a great job articulating the journey taken by those women born with the syndrome. We have been Moira, dream that our Harry exists, recognize the turmoil we potentially face and fear losing ourselves like Tori. I deeply appreciate that this book was written so honestly and ultimately for sheer awareness.

[Consuelo Murgia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really loved the cover of this book, with the brown wrapping paper style background and the Matryoshka dolls in the forefront. What to say about the plot? I like novels with female protagonists because it's easier for me to identify with them.

[Suanne Laqueur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, haunting and maddening—I wanted to KILL some of the doctors and nurses in this story. Loved the three separate story threads gradually winding together, with a clever twist which I partly guessed, but not entirely. A great read by a talented new author.

[Viki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very touching book that focuses on how infertility affects a young couple. Rokitansky Syndrome is a condition that prevents some women from being able to have children. The novel is told from 3 points of view that explore the characters from past, present, and future lives.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

i considered not finishing this book. hated the writing style, hated the characters.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subject matter is important, and I was glad to learn more about it. The writing is very well done. The style is at times poetic. The ripples of connections between the storylines were impressive.

[Faye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is about pain,, fear, love and hope. The central theme is childlessness. It is a "heavy" story. It was an above average read. This is a condition that was unknown to me.