What do you think?
Rate this book
Unexpected Child
Fate really has it in for Meg Krantz. A single 37-year-old lesbian, she relishes her independent life in New York City, and motherhood is the last thing on her mind. But when as a volunteer for an AIDS service provider she meets the soon-to-be-orphaned 4 1/2-year-old Kimble Toffler, her growing attachment to the child seems to be leading her in an unexpected direction.
"A novel about being delivered-freed-from our expectations. In prose that is confident and spare, often wry, and never sentimental, Patricia Grossman shows us how one woman comes to terms with her impulse to protect those she loves."-Michael Downing, author of Breakfast with Scot
Patricia Grossman is the author of Inventions in a Grieving House and Four Figures in Time and the award-winning children's books, The Night Ones and Saturday Market . She makes her home in Brooklyn.
"A novel about being delivered-freed-from our expectations. In prose that is confident and spare, often wry, and never sentimental, Patricia Grossman shows us how one woman comes to terms with her impulse to protect those she loves."-Michael Downing, author of Breakfast with Scot
Patricia Grossman is the author of Inventions in a Grieving House and Four Figures in Time and the award-winning children's books, The Night Ones and Saturday Market . She makes her home in Brooklyn.
221 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2000
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 6, 2014
I cannot for the life of me- figure this book out And let me tell you- I have been trying - for the last 220 pages.
A woman who volunteers at an AIDS related foundation becomes saddled with the care of a 4 year old child who has just lost her father to AIDS.
Now this woman who hates her own mother, for various reasons - has to reckon with the own .. her own... what exactly does she have to reckon with..?
See what I'm getting at here? Like what the hell is actually going on?
Now this woman, who has come from a very wealthy family has been volunteering at an AIDS related institution. Why? I guess is the question there. Are we supposed to connect the fact that she- Meg was born into privilege and now she wants to "give back"? God, I hate that expression but I'm at a loss here.
Look. 220 pages into it -coming towards the end of the book and I still have absolutely no idea what this book is about.
This woman - Meg- I can't even finish the sentence- because in fact what the hell IS Meg doing here??
This book gets so deep that I think it actually drowns in introspection and analysis..
There is no reverberation at all,. None of her characters resonate. None of them do very much at all.Except be profound. Which at the best of times- is a royal pain in the ass.
Right about now I can say something patronizing like " I really wanted to like this book" but hell I don't even know if I did .. want to like this book.
This is like a very deep inside joke where no one- but no one understands the punchline- if there is one at all.
Do lesbians have a tough time?
Do women who hate their mothers have a tough time?
Do lesbians who love lesbians have a tough time?
This whole damn book is missing its punch llne - which makes for one really confusing book.
If any of you figure out the secret code to this book - let me know.
Otherwise 2 stars at best. JM
A woman who volunteers at an AIDS related foundation becomes saddled with the care of a 4 year old child who has just lost her father to AIDS.
Now this woman who hates her own mother, for various reasons - has to reckon with the own .. her own... what exactly does she have to reckon with..?
See what I'm getting at here? Like what the hell is actually going on?
Now this woman, who has come from a very wealthy family has been volunteering at an AIDS related institution. Why? I guess is the question there. Are we supposed to connect the fact that she- Meg was born into privilege and now she wants to "give back"? God, I hate that expression but I'm at a loss here.
Look. 220 pages into it -coming towards the end of the book and I still have absolutely no idea what this book is about.
This woman - Meg- I can't even finish the sentence- because in fact what the hell IS Meg doing here??
This book gets so deep that I think it actually drowns in introspection and analysis..
There is no reverberation at all,. None of her characters resonate. None of them do very much at all.Except be profound. Which at the best of times- is a royal pain in the ass.
Right about now I can say something patronizing like " I really wanted to like this book" but hell I don't even know if I did .. want to like this book.
This is like a very deep inside joke where no one- but no one understands the punchline- if there is one at all.
Do lesbians have a tough time?
Do women who hate their mothers have a tough time?
Do lesbians who love lesbians have a tough time?
This whole damn book is missing its punch llne - which makes for one really confusing book.
If any of you figure out the secret code to this book - let me know.
Otherwise 2 stars at best. JM
December 3, 2015
Beautiful writing
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews