Customer Reviews

Lucky Baby: A Novel

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Meredith Efken, a talented writer, relates a tale of a special needs adoption of an older child from China. The story chronicles the issues that this adoption presents for the parents, grandparents, adopted child and the children left behind in the orphanage. Through the life experiences of the characters, we see the journey toward peace and a sense of belonging.

I really enjoyed this story of a woman who desperately wants a child even while doubting her own ability to be a good mother. I liked and sympathized with all of the characters, from the protagonist, who struggles against her own nature as she tries to raise her adopted Chinese daughter, to her ever patient, understanding husband to the little blind girl that no one wanted.

You don't have to have adopted overseas to relate to the feelings of these characters, which I think are common to many parents. A very good book -- I recommend it!

Lucky Baby is beautifully written with an element of magical realism that fit the story perfectly. The intertwining stories of the child left in China and the child adopted and brought to America were touching and authentic. I could see it all playing out like a movie. The ending kept me guessing and worrying, but I was completely satisfied when I turned the final page.

If you love the cliche and love to predict the outcome of conflict, if easy answers is your comfort in a good book, then skip Meredith Efken's Lucky Baby.

Her book presents a poignant look at four dynamic characters as their lives change when Meg Lindsay decides to adopt a child from China. As the principal violist for the Noveau Chicago Symphony and a Christian married to an atheist physicist, Meg and husband Lewis, decide to adopt a little girl with a cleft palate. With a child in their home, Meg knows she'd create the idyllic life.

However, the arrival of the child, Eva Zhen An, forces Meg, Lewis and Eva's devoted friend in China, Wen Ming, to confront the mother issues that have wounded their lives.

No answers come easily. No choices are made because of the obvious. Warm. Funny. Poignant. Laced with the highly poetic magic realism, Efken's book is guaranteed to touch your life and stay with you for a long time.

I recommend this book without reservations.

Meg Lindsay has never wanted to be a mother. After all, why would she want to be something she despised? All her life Meg's mother had told her what a disappointment she was. And even though she tried, Meg never measured up. and the emotional bruises still hurt.

But then China started calling to Meg, and she found that she wanted to adopt a little girl from China. She knew exactly what this child would look like, would know her voice. And Meg found her, Zhen An, a girl destined to live her life in an orphanage. Her only friend was Wen Ming. Wen Ming promises Zhen An they'll be sisters forever, but then Zhen An is ripped away from her, to go to another home in America.

Meg doesn't know how to handle a child who resents her, blames her for stealing her from her "real home" and her "real family." What does it take for Meg and Zhen An to find each other and discover what being a real family means?

LUCKY BABY is inspired by the story of how Meredith Efken received the gift of one of her daugthers, but it is not completely a true story. Some parts of it were real, but most of it is creative license. No matter which parts were true and which weren't, and even the truly fantastical parts, were all woven so well together that the story flowed seamlessly, holding my interest until the end.

The story is written both in Meg's point of view, and in Wen Ming's point of view, though one part is written in Zhen An's. I enjoyed most all of this story, though I did hope that Meg would find the peace she longed for with her family, and that Meg's husband, Lewis, would see his great need.

I never truly understood what an adopted family might go through. My sister was adopted, and was treated as my sister all my life. My parents didn't seem to go through any great struggle with her. But I do know a couple families who claim their child is emotionally damaged from the trauma of adoption, so that really opened my eyes a little, to what some families might face. Don't miss LUCKY BABY. This is a story that will stay with you for a long time. An interview with the author and discussion questions are included at the end of the book.

I am an avid reader and a very, very picky one. I've been known to trash a book after three pages, if it doesn't grab my attention. I simply don't have time, with three little boys, to waste on drab books that don't grab me. Having said that, let me say this: I have NEVER been totally captured by the first three pages as I was with Lucky Baby. And the excellent writing never waivered. The story was magical, exquisite, REAL, and emotional. This is a journey that heals hurts well hidden, that opens up new worlds to new possibilities, that shows the value of family and love and perseverance. Others will tell you the details of the story; I want to stress how well written it is. Get this book. You will love it.

Put forth as a story of an older adopted child from China, to me it was a story of family, all families. Beautifully written with a touch of magical realism, you see inside the souls of both the adoptive parents as well as the adoptive children. I look forward to many more books from this exceptional and talented writer.

I just finished Lucky Baby, and overall I thought it was a very good book. Meredith Efken is a very descriptive writer, and although it is fiction, I felt like she accurately described the feelings of those involved in an older child adoption (from the mother's, child's, and child's friend who was left behind's perspectives). I have experienced those same emotions as our family has adopted an older child, so it hit home for me. The story brought me to tears several times (tears of sadness and joy) as she described the trials and emotions each person was going through. This was my first introduction to magical realism (which I did not care for), but it did not detract from the story overall. I appreciated the author's description of magical realism in her Q&A at the end, and always like to hear what the author was thinking when they wrote the book. It was an interesting, entertaining story about the ups and downs of families and the love they share.

Meg Lindsay, the heroine of Lucky Baby, seeks to repair her wounded heart by stitching together a family of her own. She and her husband, Lewis, set out to adopt an orphan, Zhen An, from China, but their journey exposes more than their own hurts.

Wen Ming, a slightly older blind girl, is Zhen An's only friend in the Chinese Orphanage. Her side of the story is one not often heard in the typical adoption account. Wen Ming--with her strength, tenacity, and fierce love--serves as a counterpart to Meg Lindsay's desperate but at times tentative affection for her daughter.

The two struggle to forge the true bonds of family and move beyond the losses they've suffered.

The author weaves Meg and Wen Ming's tales together with exquisite prose. I loved her use of magical realism. Each of the symbolic elements felt like a feast. I told myself I'd savor the delectable words, and then I gobbled them up anyway. But the best thing about a good book is that you can always read it again.

Lucky Baby is a fragrant and satisfying story of family and healing and how the two are possible despite the pain of rejection. I highly recommend it for moms and anyone who enjoys rich, evocative, magical tales.

Lucky baby is a good read. A reader is confronted with their own stereotypes about mothering and adoption and faith in this insightful story. Some of the lines in relationships blur just like in real life. Ms. Efken has found words to express deep emotions and has chosen to allow the reader to submerge themselves in them for a time. All three sides of the adoption triad are represented with integrity. There is not pie in the sky stuff here, but real and true feelings. But don't think that it is a heavy novel wieghted with "issues", more like a good story honestly told about choices we all have to face. I would purchase this book again and recommend it to all especially to anyone in the adoption triad.