Not my Baby by Anya Mora
Genre: Domestic suspense
Read: 29th August 2023
Amazon
Published: 26th August 2023
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
The book everyone is talking about.
Never question a mother's intuition...
My water isn’t supposed to break while there’s a storm raging, when my husband isn’t on the island, and as the power flickers out. Darkness covers the cabin as I cling to my belly. I never imagined it happening like this.
Trained as a midwife, I’m confident I can deliver my daughter.
* * *
I look at her, and I see her, and I know her. I’ve always known her.
She’s perfect. Sweat and tears streak as my face I kiss her over and over again. Reaching for my bag of midwifery supplies, I wipe her nose and press her tiny body to my chest.
I fall asleep with her in my arms.
* * *
When I wake, my husband is home, the lights are back on — but the baby he’s holding — it’s not mine.
I’m not crazy.
I gave birth to a girl, and that baby in his arms is a boy.
He’s not my baby.
You won’t want to put this down until you find the shocking truth about what happened.
MY THOUGHTS:
"I gave birth to a girl...so why's my husband holding a boy?"
I came across this book after reading a review for it and thought that it would be right up my alley. I love missing baby tropes, no matter the style. And given that it was just 120 pages long I thought perfect! Another one off my Netgalley shelf and towards my yearly goal which I could easily devour in a couple of hours...which I did.
So Magnolia, a midwife herself, goes into labour three weeks early in the middle of a storm. Given that she was not yet due, she had no one in attendance and, given that there was a brutal storm outside, the island on which she lived with husband Ivan was cut off from the nest of islands that make up the San Juan Islands, off the coast of Washington state. Her waters break and in the midst of contractions she calls Ivan who is at a yoga retreat on another island. But this baby is coming now.
And so the story goes...she gives birth alone, in the dark in the midst of the storm, but when she sees her newborn daughter she is elated and knows everything is going to be alright. But giving birth is a tiring business so after placing a cap she lovingly knitted on her daughter's head, she swaddles her tightly and places her in the bassinet, cleans herself up and collapses on the bed to sleep. With her hand reaching into the bassinet to lay on her daughter's chest...she will just sleep for a few minutes. Then when she wakes, it's daylight and when she reaches into the bassinet, it's empty. Then she sees Ivan cradling their child in his arms, congratulating her on a job well done and that their son is perfect. Son? No, that's not right. Magnolia knows she gave birth to a daughter. But now they have a son?
No matter how loud Magnolia cried or how much she protested, nobody believed her when she told them she gave birth to a daughter and that this child her husband has put to her breast is not her baby. It was easy to see why they questioned Magnolia's assertion, given her history. A year ago, she had a stillbirth - a daughter - and now everyone seems to think she is projecting those emotions onto her new baby, convincing herself that she had a girl when she really had a boy. Yes, it was easy to see this on the surface. But...as her husband I really think Ivan should have listened more to his wife, humoured her more even if he didn't believe her. By telling her otherwise and threatening the psychiatric facility was counterproductive.
No one believed Magnolia. And yet she is so sure...she is willing to risk everything to prove she had a baby girl and to get her daughter back.
So first and foremost, I must say my biggest gripe with this book is the names. Magnolia and Clover were bad enough, but Park and Scout? And then there were names that were more like surnames that first names...Hollis and Yardley. Next, there is a disclaimer at the beginning of the book stating that it is written using British English...and then proceeds to use words like cell phone, mom and spells labor without the U. That isn't British English. That's American English. And lastly...the editting errors. The Ford Focus couldn't even remain the same colour (with a U, thank you), switching from red to black and then it became and SUV.
That aside...this story is fast paced, taking place in the first week after Magnolia gives birth, and an incredibly quick read at just 120 pages in length. It took me a mere 3 hours to devour it and get to the bottom of the mystery. While on the one hand you are rooting for Magnolia, on the other you question if she is just an unreliable narrator, convinced she gave birth to a girl.
A thoroughly entertaining read that had me questioning in parts despite fully backing Magnolia all the way. Recommended.
I would like to thank #AnyaMora, #Netgalley and #JoffeBooks for an ARC of #NotMyBaby in exchange for an honest review.
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