Customer Reviews

Chosen: A Novel

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I should be the perfect reader for this book. I've been up and down the infertility and adoption roller coasters. I spent five years of my life trying to "have our baby, cross the finish line, and be out of this psychotic parallel universe," as one of the main characters puts it.

And yet as much as I should have identified with the characters in "Chosen", after about the first third of the book, I began to actively dislike all of them except the adoption caseworker. The reader is allowed limited access to the thoughts of most of the main characters...birth parents, adoptive parents, etc. and through this, learns a bit too much. Either the author was a bit unsure of who her characters were or these people as a group are really off balance. The men, especially, go between being sensitive and emotional to violent and incredibly crude. (I am not easily shocked but there were several passages when the reader is in a male point of view that turned my stomach.) I don't think, given the genre, that this is what the author was trying for so I am surprised that those weren't edited out.

Again, I've been where these people are. I know the emotional roller coaster that hope, grief, joy and despair can create. I know how soul crushing the process can be. And yet I found myself nearing the end of the book hoping that none of them would end up as parents. A new father, whose life is unlike anything he expected, true, thinking, "Right now the baby feels like a money-gobbling parasite...Of course he knows it won't always be like this, that Wyeth will start to give back in some way, be more than a drain on their energy and finances." At another point, two of the main male characters imagine killing the women in their lives in horrific ways.

Another thing I couldn't figure out was why, after a baby goes missing, the reader doesn't get anything from the mother's point of view. She is shuffled to the sidelines and the reader is forced to guess as her feelings and emotions after losing the baby she's tried so long to have. The one person closest to the situation and the reader is cut off from her.

I've looked over this review a few times, unsure if it was one I should post. But this subject of wanting a child, trying desperately to have a child and the fragile feelings one has while on any side of the adoption triangle is close to my heart. I think the author had good intentions when writing "Chosen" - I think her goal was to show that no one involved in the process is all good or all bad - completely unselfish or totally greedy. I just feel like this was an opportunity missed.

In Portland, Oregon, Chloe Pinter is a social worker and director of the Chosen Child's domestic adoption program. Her current clients, the recipients wealthy Francie and John McAdoo and the impoverished donor birth parents Penny and Jason, have different demands of Chloe especially when the social worker notices the bassinet in their home. She fears they will not come together in this open adoption.

Chloe warns the McAdoo couple not to count their chickens before they are hatched as the adoption may not occur. Her admonition leads to a series of missteps that places the baby in jeopardy and has Chloe reconsidering the merits of open adoptions that she thought were the best way to exchange a child.

Chosen is a fascinating contemporary tale that focuses on the economics behind adoptions; as the impoverished donor couple struggle to make ends meet while the affluent pair can afford the child. The couples are overly stereotyped as the poor family (including Jason's brother) are abusive and threatening while the wealthy pair is snooty nouveau riche. Ironically a third couple and Chloe are the sympathetic characters. Still in spite of the hyperbole of the exchange couples, Chandra Hoffman provides an interesting 360 degree look at how several people feel about adoption.

Harriet Klausner

Chloe Pinter is the director of Chosen Child's adoption program. Chloe loves her job, especially when she can put another file in her "Completed Adoptions" drawer. Chloe's latest couple awaiting a baby is Mr. and Mrs. McAdoos. They will be adopting a baby boy from Jason and Penny. Jason and Penny are a young couple that are desperate for money.

Then there are the Novas. They have been trying desperately to get pregnant. They finally have. When a baby is stolen, everyone including Chloe start thinking about what is really important in life.

If you are adopted you have probably wondered at a time of two in your life...What would have happened if I hadn't been adopted...Who were my birth parents like...Why did they give me up?

Chosen by Chandra Hoffman is fictional but it is based on real experiences Mrs. Hoffman had. It was amazing that Chosen is Mrs. Hoffman's debit novel. It feels like it is her fifth book. I was very impressed with this book. It had great depth, a strong storyline and good characters. I got to experience the adoption process from every angle...the people giving up the baby to the ones adopting the baby. In addition, to the ones that have been trying to have a baby of their own. This book will make you appreciate the family you have...whether it be, born into it or adopted like I was. My parents are great and I am lucky to have them. The only issue I had with this book was that I wished that Chloe had been a bit more assertive.

Chosen: A Novel by Chandra Hoffman is a brilliant treatment of deeply moving subject matter ~ child adoption. Chandra has used her own life experiences as a relief worker in a Romanian orphanage and as a manager of a private, domestic adoption agency in the US as background in this absorbing, true-to-life fiction.

With a style which is straight-forward and direct, Chandra provides action with the grip and pace of a thriller. The atmosphere is rich and palpable, the characterizations strong and believable. Her cleverly designed third person narrative gives voice to every side of child adoption, with dialogue which is authentic and believable. I was enthusiastically engaged from the foreboding first chapter, aptly titled "Red Flag," until the novel's exciting and surprising denouement. The ending was completely satisfying for me.

The thrust of the plot is driven by the social and emotional complexities of child adoption. Chandra expertly takes the reader through the agony and bliss, the stress and the exhilaration of the many aspects of adoption. Her story line covers those circumstances which lead one to the adoption agency, say one woman's unwanted pregnancy and an other's infertility. She also delves into pregnancy, child birth, even postpartum depression. She takes us below the surface and deep into the raw emotional world of both birth mothers and fathers as well as adoptive mothers and fathers. Every consideration is examined tenderly and with great sensitivity. She even takes us beyond the parameters of the adoption agency to the "reality" of serious responsibility which accompanies the fulfilment of one's dream for a child or a family, or the consequences of giving up a child for adoption. The ups and downs, the dreamy highs and the dark lows of the adoption process are all treated honestly and practically. I am sure many readers will feel the novel's unmistakable relevance.

It is in the realm of "reality" where Chandra crafts her taut and tense plot, a plot deeply wrought with conflict and drama, desperation and crime. The story becomes at once moving and horrifying. I was riveted until the plot's final denouement which I thought was brilliant and not at all what I was expecting. As for the story's surprising conclusion, I have a feeling that this sort of crime, with the particular resolution that the author so adeptly employed, could actually occur in real life, even perhaps more often than one might imagine. I felt no disbelief whatsoever with the novel's ending but rather more of a sense of non-fiction, that is to say that the ending is plausible and could easily play out in our current society.

Chosen: A Novel is a superb fiction which shows true novelistic craftsmanship. I applaud Chandra Hoffman for her wonderful contribution to the emotionally charged world of adoption and also her bold treatment of the crimes of kidnapping and extortion. I enthusiastically give my highest recommendation!

Chloe Pinter has what she would consider the "best" job and at times, the "worst" job. She is the director of Portland's Chosen Child domestic adoption program and she is the case worker that helps families find just the perfect child for them to adopt, fitting birth mothers and adoptive parents together. In a sense, she helps build families for parents who can't have children through conventional methods. The downside of this, is that often times, birth mothers wait until the last minute to decide that they want to keep their baby, leaving the adoptive parents with nothing but heart break and the time spent waiting once more to find a birth mother to have a child.

In Chosen by Chandra Hoffman, Chloe is working with three very different sets of parents. One couple who have been childhood sweethearts since college despite twelve miscarriages and a dozen fertility problems are now finally expecting their own baby, praying that this one will carry to term. Another set of parents, are wealthy and can afford the expense that the adoption process carries with it, yet despite their ages, they are finally hoping that they can find a birth mother who will be willing to offer them a child. The final couple are the birth mother and her boyfriend who are having difficulty coming to an agreement over what they want to do. The boyfriend wants to make as much money as possible on the baby and the mother is considering keeping the child.

This is a very compelling look into the different sides of the adoption process from the case worker, to the birth mother to the adoptive parents. Each with a different set of motives, the reader is drawn into each couple's unique set of circumstances and is torn with their emotions over how difficult the entire adoption process can be.

I received this book compliments of TLC Book Tours for my honest review and really enjoyed this one. Like I stated before, for those who have never realized all the work that goes into a successful adoption, this gives you a fictional account of the ins and outs of the process through three different families. I rate this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars and it does contain some sexual content and profanity as a caution to some readers.

In Chosen, her debut novel, author Chandra Hoffman unveils an idealistic adoption caseworker who becomes entangled in the lives of adoptive and birth parents, with shattering results.

It all begins with Chloe Pinter, who believes she's living the dream in Portland, Oregon as she matches birth parents with adoptive parents. She feels the "honor of being a part of such an important moment" - in the creation of a family. The satisfaction she gets from her work shields her from the stresses of her personal life, including her moody, beautiful boyfriend. But her job satisfaction begins to crumble as the messiness of her clients' lives intrudes. First, there are the Novas, the attractive, still-in-love couple who endured years of infertility before conceiving their own child. There's also Francie McAdoo, the desperate half of a wealthy couple for whom adoption is a last chance. Finally, there's Jason and Penny, the down-on-their luck couple who have nothing - except the baby Francie wants more than anything. Then a baby goes missing, and dreams descend into nightmares, forcing everyone to reconsider what he or she really wants - and how to get it back.

Though I'd rate it R for language and sexual situations, Chosen was one of those books I read with awe and envy. How does a young novelist write with such depth and insight and imagination - and do it all superbly the first time out of the gate? This novel, in my opinion, has it all. Interesting, gritty, human characters - many of whom I would love to know personally - and others I would not. Storytelling masterfully balanced between character-driven and plot. And holding it all together, wordsmithing that ranks with the best of them.

In addition to these externals, the author herself provides another reason I liked this book so much. In her Author's Notes, she remarks, "I wanted to tell a story in which there are no heroes or villains, just shades of gray, real people trying to recover from their stumbles with grace."

That's life. That's real - and in this case, eminently readable.

Loved this novel. The first 5-10 pages started a bit slowly but after that I couldn't put it down. I loved the foreshadowing in this book....it really created some great suspense. Chloe is a very relatable character. I don't have adoptive kids but I do have kids and as a Mom, I could highly relate as well. This was a very well written book and I would highly recommend it.

A heart-wrenching, beautifully written tale that shines a light on the gray area of human frailties, and questions a reader's perception of hero and villain. Suspenseful and powerful, Hoffman's characters are so real they'll stick with you long after the final chapter.

To see a child being given a chance at receiving a life with a family that is ready for a baby and deeply desires the opportunity of parenthood can make a person gloss over the reality of what is truly happening. That a young women would see the chance of helping families choose babies taken from some harsh backgrounds and given a shot at life would lead any person into glamorizing the process. The fact that some of these birth mothers desperately wish they could change their lives doesn't fall into the scope of adoption agencies.

The Chosen shows the good and the ugly of both sides of the adoption process. You end up cheering for the institution of adoption and at the same time crying at the decisions these young people have to make. The path that Chloe has chosen isn't the easiest to follow, but at the time is fulfilling. In the end she has to weigh the cost of her calling and what else life has in store for her.

The characters in Chosen have depth whether you like them or not they do represent a number of idiosyncrasies' we see in the people around us.

In Portland, Oregon, the (fictional) Chosen Child adoption agency operates with a specific mission in mind: families can be created. To the social workers who work there, including Chloe Pinter who directs the domestic adoption program, the mission is one that almost supersedes everything else in their lives. Their hours are unpredictable, interrupting many moments of personal interaction. Chloe's relationship with her fiancé Dan is precarious at times because of the demands of the job.

But Chloe forges ahead, connecting birth parents to adoptive ones with a zeal that seemingly consumes her.

In this tale about creating families, the alternating chapters focus on individual characters, from Chloe, to individual birth parents, and to a couple that once tried to adopt, but now has a birth child.

Each exploration reveals the emotional drains as well as the eager anticipation of each character, whether that character is one waiting for an adoptive child or is a birth parent struggling with the pain of giving up a child. We come to empathize with the pain, the struggles, and finally the joy that comes when everyone achieves his/her goal.

But the story does not end with the "chosen family" riding off into the sunset. We also see the regrets of the birth parents, the struggles of new parenthood for the adoptive ones, and even a case of postpartum depression that almost leads to disaster.

Hoffman's portrayal of the birth/adoption process was realistic, delving into the flaws of all the characters with sensitivity. Social workers, as well as birth parents, are human and subject to errors in judgment. These insights added depth to Chosen: A Novel, which resulted in a five-star review from this reader.