Enfant de personne

by Elaine Kagan

It Was Love At First Sight. He was a bad boy, an irresistible ex-con from the wrong side of the tracks. She was a nice middle-class Jewish girl--smart and quiet, prettier than she even knew. Will and Jenny shared a passion that defied their backgrounds, and when Jenny got pregnant, they planned to elope. But on the big day something went terribly wrong...and after the baby was born, Jenny gave her up for adoption, to a nice couple who called her Claudia and raised her as their own. Now Claudia is all grown up. While she loves her adoptive parents, she is haunted by dreams of her "other mother." Curious to discover the truth, Claudia begins a search that will lead her to the avenues of Manhattan and the mountains of California--to a man and woman separated by fate and time whose love for each other still burns strong...

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Adoption, Chick Lit, Drama

379 pages, Paperback

First published April 22, 1998

Reviews

[V.L. Locey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever come across a book that you find in a school/library sale, sitting innocently amid many others of its genre, whispering to you to purchase it? You grab the novel up, read the back, ponder for a moment, and then slide it into the huge stack you`re trying to balance. It is truly amazing what that fifty cent book can be when you finally open its pages. Do not ever judge a book by the price being asked for it. The book we`re chatting about today has been a double blessing for me. I`ll explain as we go, so let`s jump into my review!

Somebody`s Baby by Elaine Kagan is a riveting book that has me on the lookout for more of Ms. Kagan`s works. I love her style. Her characters speak the way people speak. They come alive from the very first page and keep you reading steadily until you reach the last page.

In Somebody`s Baby we meet Jenny Jaffe, a wealthy Jewish girl living in a rather affluent area of Kansas City in 1959. Gentile boys are a no-no. Gentile boys with tattoos, who had served time in jail, had drifted in from California, and are working at a gas station are so far off-limits they may as well be Martian`s. Jenny knows all those rules, but she first sets her sights on Will McDonald, everything she knows about right and wrong dissipates. Jenny and Will become this inseparable, passionate, amazingly well written teen couple. By the end of her senior year, Jenny is pregnant. The two lovers make plans to run away and get married. She waits at the spot where Will is supposed to pick her up. He never shows.

What happens next is this incredible story about love, adoption, family, children, blood, and getting to know who and what you are. I won`t spoil anything because I want you to read this. I want you to get bound up in the heartbreak and the joy. I want you to shout and cry. I want you to read this book. I am positive you`ll come out of it with a glow of appreciation for your parents, and the love they gave you, be they biological or not.

I know I certainly was moved greatly by the novel, and, as an added bonus, I discovered a boarding pass in the book that someone must have used as a bookmark. That boarding pass is now hanging on my fridge and will be the basis for a future novel for me.

So thank you, Ms. Kagan, for the powerful book. And thank you, mysterious stranger, who shared this story with me so many years ago. I hope I can do your boarding pass justice.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wonderful book was such a terrific way to spend a couple of days. I couldn't put it down. The story of star-crossed lovers, Jenny and Will, is heartbreaking in its sadness, but ultimately it soars with hope and love.

Forced apart when Jenny gets pregnant at 17, they go their separate ways, until their daughter Claudia, who was adopted into a wonderful family, finds them 35 years later. It's such a simple story, and yet it is written so poignantly, I was sympathetic with every single character (well, maybe not Jenny's parents). They feel like real people and I want so much for them to be happy ever after. A really good read.

[Suanne Laqueur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Jewish girl meets bad Gentile boy, the latter complete with tattoos and a criminal record. We’ve read it all before, right? Wrong, not like this. Never anything like this.

Somebody’s Baby kept me up until three in the morning and stayed with me for days afterwards. An intense, powerful story that transported me somewhere else. Loved it.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Loved this book because its about a young girl in love with a boy she isnt supposed to be with, and how one small choice or conversation can change the course of your life. We all wonder "What If?" and this book explores alot of that.

[Yvette]

Read this once a LONG time ago. I have it sitting in my home library, so I think I may re-read someday. I remember liking it, but that's all I remember :)

[Kenzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for the first time some ten years ago. and for some reason, it was the most romantic thing I'd ever read. I read it so many times I about had it memorized.

I grew up, moved out, and found romance of my own. after being married about two years it hit me- he loved me like Will loved Jenny.

I had to read it again. and as an adult, I read it with new eyes. but all the feeling was still there. the romance still seeps from the pages.

I still think it's one of the best romances, it still holds my heart in its pages and I still wish we had just a page or two more. just to KNOW.

my review is biased, based on the love of a book an 18 year old girl has for a whirlwind romance that made her heart skip a beat.

[Anne Rodgers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elaine Kagan did an amazing job of capturing a special love between two very young people in "Somebody's Baby."
After setting the stage with the couple, she jumps to the story of the child they made out of wedlock, who was adopted and later wanted to find her parents.
When the daughter finally locates them, the story circles back to the deception that separated the young lovers all those years ago.
I found the daughter's voice less engrossing than those of the lovers; her self-doubt was a bit wearisome. But this book has stayed in my mind, even weeks after finishing it.
Highly recommended.

[Carla Parreira]

O livro conta sobre a história de uma jovem que se apaixonou por um rapaz e engravidou. Eles estavam planejando de fugir juntos quando os pais dela armaram um plano para fazê-lo ir preso e mentiram dizendo à filha que haviam oferecido dinheiro para ele ir embora. Separados por causa da não aceitação dos pais dela, já que ele era um homem de classe social inferior, obrigaram-na a ir para um convento e, ao dar a luz, fizeram-na entregar o bebê para a adoção. Toda essa trama só é revelada quando esse bebê, ao tornar-se uma mulher adulta e já uma mãe também, resolve ir atrás da sua história de vida, promovendo assim o reencontro e reunião dos pais verdadeiros.

[Michele Tanton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book! Definitely a page turner that you didn't know how was going to end. The only thing I hoped for was a little more at in the last couple of pages. It seemed like the author took the time throughout the book with details, but rushed the ending.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another book that I'd definitely give more than five stars too!!

[Faith Meddaugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly have read this book three times. Loved it,and could read it again. Was hoping one day would have became a movie.

[Melinda Fenton · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5-3.0 not much for me to say...it was just ok.

[Katherine Biggerstaff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always love myself a good love story. The middle was hard for me but I loved the beginning & ending. 💕

[Trudy Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teenage love in the wrong place at the wrong time. An adoption. A search for parents. Reunion in middle age. Predictable. Good.

[Yanhitzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I was 14 and remember thinking it was the most romantic story I had ever read. I’m now 33 and am rereading, still a beautiful story.

[Allison L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picture this (I’m channeling my inner Sophia Petrillo from The Golden Girls here):

The year was 1959. Her name was Jenny Jaffe. She lived in a wealthy Jewish neighborhood in Kansas City where gentile boys were off limits. Especially a boy who has tattoos, was a mostly penniless drifter from California, had spent time in jail, and who would get in a fight with another man for looking at her the wrong way. But, the heart wants what the heart wants, right? Right. Before she even really knew what was happening to her, Jenny found herself falling in love with Will McDonald, and the two of them became inseparable in everyway. She didn’t care that her parents disapproved or that he didn’t really have two pennies to rub together. All she cared about was that he loved her in a way that no one had ever loved her before, and no one would ever love like that again. Of course, their love wasn’t easy, and before it even really got two feet firmly planted on the ground, it got even more complicated — Jenny was pregnant! They made a plan to run away together, and Jenny waited at the spot where Will was supposed to pick her up but, he never showed — and now her only option is to listen to her parents as they force her to give up her baby for adoption. What happens next is a story of true love that spans over three decades – between man and woman and between parent and child — a story filled with lies and betrayal, silence and sacrifice, and a passion and strength to uncover the truth.

Click here to read my full review!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

First it seemed, after few pages, that this book is just another shallow romance but oh how wrong I was! I have still tears in my eyes because I just finished this book.

I love our protagonist, Jenny Jaffe, and her mindset and courage and her love for Will. I felt her pain so much when found out what her parents did to her, and what they forced her to do.

I understand what people mean when they say that the middle of this book was a bit slow, the time frames were confusing and the writing style wasn't the best. And many would have liked if the whole book would have been Jenny's POV. I would have like that too.

All in all, this book was so touching and heart wrenching, one of my favourite books now! The story is so powerful, because it's about once-in-a-lifetime love, and that's why I wasn't too bothered about the writing style or slow middle.

One thing left me a bit bothered. It was the ending. It was rather quick, and I hoped to read that Jenny and Will had eloped together and got married, and I would have liked to see Jenny happy with Will by her side for the rest of their lives. I'm gonna imagine that they did just that. Because they finally deserved it.
Oh my poor heart.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very engaging read, a satisfying love story where everything turned out all right in the end. My only problem with it was the sometimes laborious part near the middle when Claudia was trying to make up her mind about whether to contact her birth mother. It was too drawn out and some parts offered nothing intrinsic to the story. Otherwise, a great read that I looked forward to picking up.

[Kathy KS · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally picked this up because my mother grew up in Kansas City a slight bit before the novel occurs. But there's something about Kagan's writing that made me want to read more of her fiction. Although I didn't think I'd be happy with the resolution of the story, it turns out that I did!

[Kate Anyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book. I couldn't put it down. I do have to say I was a little disappointed in the ending. I would hope there is going to be a part 2 as I was dying to see how the 2 interacted after all those years apart.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, I liked it..will try to read other books by this author

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the Reader's Digest version so it was edited and condensed. So good though. Definitely heartbreaking, but worth the read.

[Crystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok....I was a bit "turned off" with Claudia's sense of entitlement.

[Sally Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent

[Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I loved this book unexpectedly because I picked it up at a garage sale long ago and it's just been sitting on my bookshelf. The love story is unbelievably poignant and beautiful--a must-read!

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pienso que al final leí una historia muy típica, "la Búsqueda de Claudia" se pudo desarrollar mejor los temas pero aun así se disfruta mucho la lectura.

[Bill Donhiser · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a pile of used books I picked up. an okay read, not my genre. I need to learn to let books go without reading them if they do not quickly catch my interest.

[Tee Mcdaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok but not as interesting as I thought it would be seemed to drag on.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some poignant moments of writing, otherwise, not engaging enough for me. Changes in timeline not always clear.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't put it down-I had to find out how Jenny, Claudia, and Will's lives connected.