Author: Rumaan Alam
Alam’s second novel (following Rich and Pretty), an often incisive chronicle of an unconventional family, opens with the birth of poet Rebecca’s first child, Jacob.
Like many first-time mothers, Rebecca Stone finds herself both deeply in love with her newborn son and deeply overwhelmed. Struggling to juggle the demands of motherhood with her own aspirations and feeling utterly alone in the process, she reaches out to the only person at the hospital who offers her any real help—Priscilla Johnson—and begs her to come home with them as her son’s nanny.
Rebecca is white, and Priscilla is black. Rebecca was grateful to Priscilla because she taught her what it means to be a mother. Later Priscilla died during her giving birth to a child. Rebecca decided to adopt the baby but she did not think that the world will not take it easily.
With his absolute eye for nuance and abundant sense of irony, Rumaan Alam’s second novel is both heartfelt and thought-provoking.”
> Shiuly Rina
