Maybe Baby

by Emma Neale

271 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2026

About the author

New Zealand novelist & poet Emma Neale's first work was published in 1998 and her writing has been featured extensively in magazines, newspapers and journals, and several anthologies.

Daughter of writer Barbara Else.

Abridged from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Brody Hitchcock]

Following Nate, a grieving widower, this story explores his determination to honor his late wife by finding a way to have the child they desperately wanted together. After trying multiple surrogacy options that fail, he makes the radical decision to travel to London to participate in a groundbreaking medical trial. Amidst this unprecedented journey, he finds himself torn between his loyalty to his past, his primal urge to become a father, and a sudden, unexpected attraction to Sadie, a woman who has her own strong reasons for resisting a family.

​This was such a thought-provoking read! I was so interested the whole way through, constantly wondering where the story would lead, and it definitely went to many places I didn't think it would go. I did find that even though it was a good book, it had some patches that I felt like I could skip over because they didn't add much to the story. It also took me a really long time to get through, mostly because there were so many words I didn't know that I had to stop and figure out! Despite that, I would definitely recommend giving this one a go—it absolutely gives you a lot to think about.

[Jen Signal]

After losing Kelly, Nate is completely lost in his grief. When he hears about a groundbreaking medical trial in London, he decides to take a chance and moves to the other side of the world to be part of it.

While he is there, he meets Sadie and starts to develop feelings for her, which makes everything even more complicated.

Nate has to figure out what loyalty to Kelly really means, while Sadie is dealing with her own feelings about love, loss, and not wanting children.

Wow, this book was not what I expected at all - in the best way. It went in a direction I didn’t see coming, and that made the story so much more interesting and emotional.

I really enjoyed the plot and the characters. I felt so heartbroken for Nate and everything he had to go through after losing Kelly.

I also loved that parts of the story were set in both New Zealand and London, it gave the book an extra connection for me.

[Mrs Moa]

A thought provoking book.

The story of a young widow, Nate, who has made a promise to his late wife which in hindsight, is harder than it seems.

While I found the plot interesting and original, I didn’t really find any of the characters likeable. I often struggled to understand the reactions of some of Nate’s friends, family and the people he was dating at times. It would appear mid conversation that they would put up a wall, but I couldn’t decipher what Nate had said wrong - he just didn’t seem to be able to get it right.

Overall, a tale that will leave you mulling over the masculine and feminine roles in parenthood and how gender seems to determine society’s perceptions.

I was sent this book by the publisher and all opinions are my own.

[Sarah]

A great book on an unfathomable topic! I found the whole time Nate was in London pretty excruciating to read because the whole premise is nothing I have ever considered as a possibillty and I am still not sure how I feel about it.