The Crossley Baby

by Jacqueline Carey

Bridget, Jean, and Sunny Crossley grow up in modest circumstances on Long Island, and all end up in the New York City of the 1980s. Free spirit Bridget, the oldest, is a well-traveled, sometime massage therapist in the East Village. Outspoken Jean is a corporate headhunter in double-breasted power suits who lives in a gleaming Upper East Side tower. Harvard-educated Sunny, the youngest and sweetest sister, drifts from eligible boyfriend to eligible boyfriend until she falls for a Harlem real estate developer and starts a family.

When Bridget dies unexpectedly during what should have been a routine operation, she leaves behind a ten-month-old girl named Jade. The big question Who should take the baby? The obvious and expert Sunny, or the never-at-home career woman Jean? The answer is, of course, more complicated than either sister could have anticipated.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

320 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2003

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

From the author's website:
Jacqueline Carey grew up in Connecticut and graduated from Swarthmore College in 1977. Since then she has lived mostly in New York City and Montana.

Her short stories first appeared in The New Yorker in 1986. Her work has also been published in Elle, Allure, WigWag, the Village Voice, and the New York Times Magazine. She is a frequent contributor to the New York Times Book Review, and she used to write a mystery column for Salon.com. She received a Guggenheim fellowship to write THE CROSSLEY BABY.

Recently she moved to Montclair, New Jersey, with her husband, writer Ian Frazier, and their two children.

Reviews

[Maggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about some people with messed up lives. I thought that the characters and the plot needed a little more development. The author tried to make her writing very colorful by using lots of adjectives, but missed the point of just saying something. A frustrating read for a weak story.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty good in parts but very disappointing resolution? in the end.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually took this book out because I thought it might be by the same woman who wrote the Kushiel and Godslayer books. I was wrong. But since I had it already and it was less than 300 pages, I thought why not? It wasn't bad, just not something I really would have picked out if the author hadn't had the same name. The sisters brought sibling rivalry to a whole new level, which you'd imagine would be set off by something. But no, apparently their personalities just clashed to such an extreme point that they really would have jeopardized the future of a motherless baby just to be able to triumph over each other. Seems unrealistic to me, coming from a fairly dysfunctional family as well. When someone in our family is in need, we pull together. I find that to be the main purpose of family, to be there for one another. Of course, this book wrapped in up into a sweet little bow by the end, as would be expected.

[Lindsey Woodworth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very confusing start. Hard to keep characters straight. Lots of long boring bits. Something about the e ending made me like it a bit more.

[Thorn MotherIssues · Rating 2 out of 5]

Three sisters, raised by their dad after their mother dies while they are children, go to elite colleges and then end up in the NYC area leading very different lives. When Bridget dies during what was supposed to be a routine operation, her sisters find themselves in conflict over which of them should raise Bridget's young daughter. There is also a subplot about a foster parent who can't afford to adopt the child in her care because she'd lose her stipend from the state.

I think the writing was probably deliberately stilted and the characters deliberately unlikable, but that left a stilted book with unlikable characters.

[Sheldon Lehman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once it got going, the story wasn't too bad. After noting the death of the older sister, leaving behind an orphan that is supposedly the subject of the book, the first half of the book chronicles events leading up to that point, with the second half exploring events after, the fight for custody, etc. It just spent way too much time on character development.

For the most part, guys won't like this book at all; it's definitely written toward a female audience. I guess I'll try reading more of her stuff though..

[Jules · Rating 1 out of 5]

After seeing this book only got a 2.7 rating I should have known better. This was a struggle to get through. I wasn't the most attentive english/language arts student, but I do recall something about structure and a plan being paramount to an essay, and I'm assuming the same goes for novels. not a fan of how the author put this book together. too many ideas, no cohesive plan.

[Karyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure this is not what the hardcover jacket looked like. I can barely remember this book, though; I tend to get the characters mixed up with those in Jessica Shattuck's book, "The Hazards of Good Breeding," which I read within a week of this one.

[Cynthia Paschen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two sisters struggle over who will raise their sister's orphaned daughter. Confusing ending.

[Bernadette · Rating 1 out of 5]

Took a long time to read because I didn't like the characters, the writing, or the story. Kind of a shame.

[Stacey · Rating 1 out of 5]

couldn't finish it.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent writing, but minimal plot and characters that never become likeable.