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Summary
Summary
Three women, three lives, and one chance to become a family...whether they want to or not.
Newly orphaned, recently divorced, and semiadrift, Nina Popkin is on a search for her birth mother. She's spent her life looking into strangers' faces, fantasizing they're related to her, and now, at thirty-five, she's ready for answers.
Meanwhile, the last thing Lindy McIntyre wants is someone like Nina bursting into her life, announcing that they're sisters and campaigning to track down their mother. She's too busy with her successful salon, three children, beautiful home, and...oh yes, some pesky little anxiety attacks.
But Nina is determined to reassemble her birth family. Her search turns up Phoebe Mullen, a guarded, hard-talking woman convinced she has nothing to offer. Gradually sharing stories and secrets, the three women make for a messy, unpredictable family that looks nothing like Nina pictured...but may be exactly what she needs. Nina's moving, ridiculous, tragic, and transcendent journey becomes a love story proving that real family has nothing to do with DNA.
Reviews (3)
Kirkus Review
A woman's quest to find her birth mother takes her in an unexpected direction.Nina Popkin always wondered where she came from, but after her adoptive mother's death and her own recent divorce she feels more untethered to the world than usual. Before she died, Nina's mother was only able to provide her with three clues regarding her origin: the names of the orphanage and a potentially helpful nun and an allusion to a mysterious photograph squirreled away somewhere in the house. Unfortunately for Nina, her adoption records are technically sealed, though Sister Germaine doesn't exactly follow the rules. She finds out that she has a younger sister who was also given up for adoption, and the orphanage arranges a meeting. Turns out, Nina already knew her sister: they went to grammar school together. Though sharing her vibrant red hair, Nina's sister, Lindy, does not share her enthusiasm for putting her birth family back together. After finding out more about her early days than she wanted to know, Lindy storms out of the office and Sister Germaine follows, leaving Nina alone with all her records. She learns both her mother's name and the fact that she was only 15 when Nina was born. But from there, her mother's story gets a bit more complicated: she had been moderately famous, the lead singer of a girl band in the 80s. And when Nina decides to contact her, it appears at first that she wants nothing to do with the daughters she gave up so many years earlier. Told from the perspectives of Nina, Lindy, and their mother, Phoebe, the novel navigates their often twisting paths back to one another, as all the women realize that the bonds of family develop both by choice and by DNA. Dawson (The Opposite of Maybe, 2014, etc.) is a generous storyteller, creating characters who are both complex and unexpected while being wholly relatable. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
After the death of her adoptive mother, 35-year-old Nina Popkin is left questioning where she belongs in the world. Her parents gave her a great life, but Nina has always fantasized about her birth mother. What did she look like? Why did she give her up? Nina's search for family leads her to Lindy McIntyre, the sister she never knew she had. Determined to track down their mother, Nina convinces a skeptical Lindy to join her, and the two prove to be an odd couple. Lindy has a successful salon, two children, and a seemingly perfect marriage, while Nina is navigating an ill-advised relationship with a much older man who has two teenagers. Despite their differences, however, the two women slowly develop a relationship as they try to convince their birth mother to open up and tell her story. In this heartfelt novel, Dawson (The Opposite of Maybe, 2014) weaves together the stories of three very different women who are bound by blood, delving deeply into the true meaning of family.--Smith, Patricia Copyright 2016 Booklist
Library Journal Review
What happens when a 35-year-old woman's dying mother leaves her daughter a clue about her birth origins? Nina Popkin always knew she was adopted. As she grew up, she searched for her biological mother, making up stories about the other adoptees in her school. Now, she learns she has a younger sister. Impulsive as always, Nina tracks her sibling down. Although Lindy McIntyre doesn't want another sister, Nina is cheerful and insistent. She finds ways to insert herself into others' lives-her sister's and also that of a newly separated man and his family. Nina wants a family, and if she has to put one together in bits and pieces, she will. Things would be even better if she could find the woman who as a teenager gave up two little girls. In Nina, Dawson (The Opposite of Maybe) introduces a lovable, flawed character challenged by day-to-day life and searching for love and a feeling of belonging. VERDICT Recommended for readers who enjoy character-driven books dealing with everyday struggles. Nina is delightful and spirited, and her engaging, charming story illustrates the humor and quirkiness of life.-Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
