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A review by amothersmusings1
The Swap by Fiona Mitchell
2.0
"The Swap" is Fiona Mitchell's second novel after her success with "The Maid's Room" and my first read by this author.
"Two women. Two children. But whose is whose? When two strangers, Tess and Annie, undergo IVF at an American clinic, their embryos are mixed up and each woman gives birth to the wrong child. The women only discover the devastating error three years later. Tess wants to swap the children back; Annie doesn't. As the pair wrangle, neither of them expect what unfolds"
The premise to this story really intrigued me, being a mother myself, although not an IVF user, I was interested in reading the emotions of women who have used this method to conceive. Potentially poignant and thought provoking, this story had all the hallmarks of a powerful and emotional read. However, it just didn't quite reach those levels for me and left me rather disappointed. I did relate to the frustrations of being a parent to an unruly and demanding child and think every parent has been in those shoes. The delight in finding that your IVF has been a success only to discover three years on, you were given the wrong embryo must be gut wrenching and heart breaking, after truly believing the child you were bringing up was yours genetically. I did feel these emotions the writer was trying to convey, though the characters Annie and Tess weren't easy to engage with and generally the characters as a whole, were rather flat and difficult to relate to. There were also too many exact and precise attention to details that were totally unnecessary for my enjoyment, which tended to spoil the flow of the story.
This book does leave it open for many book club discussions from child behaviour, to discipline, gender selection IVF and moral issues surrounding the main premise of switched embryos and will certainly make for potential interesting debates.
These are only my personal thoughts and opinions and not necessarily what the next reader may find.
Sadly 2 stars.
"Two women. Two children. But whose is whose? When two strangers, Tess and Annie, undergo IVF at an American clinic, their embryos are mixed up and each woman gives birth to the wrong child. The women only discover the devastating error three years later. Tess wants to swap the children back; Annie doesn't. As the pair wrangle, neither of them expect what unfolds"
The premise to this story really intrigued me, being a mother myself, although not an IVF user, I was interested in reading the emotions of women who have used this method to conceive. Potentially poignant and thought provoking, this story had all the hallmarks of a powerful and emotional read. However, it just didn't quite reach those levels for me and left me rather disappointed. I did relate to the frustrations of being a parent to an unruly and demanding child and think every parent has been in those shoes. The delight in finding that your IVF has been a success only to discover three years on, you were given the wrong embryo must be gut wrenching and heart breaking, after truly believing the child you were bringing up was yours genetically. I did feel these emotions the writer was trying to convey, though the characters Annie and Tess weren't easy to engage with and generally the characters as a whole, were rather flat and difficult to relate to. There were also too many exact and precise attention to details that were totally unnecessary for my enjoyment, which tended to spoil the flow of the story.
This book does leave it open for many book club discussions from child behaviour, to discipline, gender selection IVF and moral issues surrounding the main premise of switched embryos and will certainly make for potential interesting debates.
These are only my personal thoughts and opinions and not necessarily what the next reader may find.
Sadly 2 stars.