Our Stolen Child - Melissa Wiesner

Author: Melissa Wiesner

Genre: Family Drama

Rating: 3.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A family drama that raises many thought-provoking questions. Predictable, especially after the midway mark, but the pacy writing kept me happy. Do check out the trigger warnings though.

Story Synopsis:

Quinn and James Marcello have been trying to conceive via IVF since 5 years. Their last resort is an embryo they had frozen five years back. To their horror, the fertility clinic informs them that their embryo had been successfully implanted in another woman long back and is now a four-year-old girl named Emily. Thus begins the dilemma. Whose daughter is Emily – of her biological parents Quinn & James, or of Nora, the woman who carried her for nine months without knowing of the switched embryo, gave birth to her, and has been her mother since then?

The story comes to us in the third person perspective of Quinn, with the prologue and the epilogue being written in the first person perspective of Nora.

Where the book worked for me:

✔ Extremely quick-paced. It is easy to complete this within 3-4 hours.

✔ Raises interesting questions and makes you think.

✔ Details out the trauma of childless parents and the struggles of IVF.

✔ Some of the challenges of parenting are also brought out well.

✔ Despite knowing what would happen by the end, I stayed invested in the story.

✔ There are two kids in the story, Emily and her cousin Liam, and both are adorable.

✔ The three main characters are complicated. While James’ and Nora’s shortcomings make themselves clear soon, Quinn’s take time to appear, but they are indeed present. I especially liked how she didn’t even realise for a long time that she was being judgemental about frustrated mothers while blaming the whole world for being judgemental about childless women.

✔ Some scenes seem over the top, especially where intrusive strangers asking too many personal questions and passing judgemental remarks. I might have counted this as a negative in some other book but the fact is, I've had almost every single one of those conversations in real life. I liked this touch of reality in an otherwise somewhat farfetched story.

Where the book could have worked better for me:

❌ By narrating the story from Quinn’s perspective and highlighting Nora’s shortcomings repetitively, the story indirectly forces us to choose Quinn’s side. I think this was unfair towards Nora because whatever happened certainly wasn’t Nora’s fault and there was no need to portray her so negatively. I would have been more impressed had there been alternate perspectives of both the women, narrating their struggles with the goof-up made by the fertility clinic.

❌ It tries too hard to settle things well, especially in the way everything is tied together so perfectly by the end. A realistic ending always works better for me. But I suppose most readers do like their HEAs.

❌ Hated James’ character arc. The blurb makes a mention of “a secret from James’ past”. This is so easy to guess from the writing that after a point, you can complete the story by yourself – there are hardly any surprises. I know why this angle was taken, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

❌ I object to one of the points made by Quinn’s lawyer during the legal hearing. I can’t believe how easily everyone was convinced by that silly argument.

All in all, despite the shortcomings, I did like the book. As it focusses on a dilemma that has no easy resolution, we too are kept wondering which decisions will be the best one. A quick and emotional story, better read without overanalysing the shortcomings and ignoring the implausible neat ends. I would have rated it a bit higher had it not been so “perfect” at the end.

My thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the DRC of “Our Stolen Child”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Possible Triggers: THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS – PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

IVF-related trauma, childlessness-related trauma, spousal death, single parenting issues, cheating on spouse.