What You Wish For: A Novel [Paperback]

Kerry Reichs (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 3, 2012

If what you wish for is a delightfully bittersweet novel filled with endearing, eccentric characters and situations in the vein of Jennifer Weiner, Jane Green, Marian Keyes, and Meg Cabot, then Kerry Reichs’s What You Wish For is the answer to your prayers. The daughter of forensic crime fiction superstar Kathy Reichs (bestselling creator of the Temperence Brennan mystery series, the basis for TV’s Bones), Kerry Reichs’s writing talent is ingrained in her DNA, as she’s already demonstrated with her previous books, Leaving Unknown and The Best Day of Someone Else’s Life. Her third novel, What You Wish For, is a tender, loving, funny, and unforgettable tale of five “modern” families, each one following a very different road to happiness, and yet another bravura example of Kerry Reichs’s phenomenal storytelling abilities.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Having a baby is . . . complicated.

Dimple knows. She's a successful actress who is turning forty—though her agent and her resume insist she's only thirty-six—and she figures it's now or never. Certainly it's not a good time for an intriguing director to show up at her door with a great script.

Eva, fabulous agent to the stars, doesn't want kids—and never wanted kids. Why is her decision so damned hard for everyone else to accept?

When Maryn was undergoing treatment for cancer, she and her husband both agreed to have embryos frozen. But that was way before their divorce and her remission—and now she's single and childless, and caught in the middle of a controversy she never saw coming.

The traditional and nontraditional couples desperate for a baby . . . the adoptive parents . . . the single mom . . . the two who want nothing to do with parenthood. . . . This is a thoroughly modern story of the pursuit of family in all its forms—and of five very different ways of getting there.

About the Author

Kerry Reichs, a graduate of Duke University School of Law and Stanford Institute of Public Policy, practiced law in Washington, D.C. She is the author of The Best Day of Someone Else's Life and Leaving Unknown.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Original edition (July 3, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061808148
• ISBN-13: 978-0061808142
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #386,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kerry Reichs is a graduate of Duke University School of Law and Stanford Institute of Public Policy, and practiced law in Washington, D.C. She is the author of The Best Day of Someone Else's Life and Leaving Unknown.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of What You Wish For July 4, 2012

By Lydia TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

I remember the day it hit me that I was in my mid-30's and unmarried with no children on the horizon. It was a blow to me, I'm not going to lie. I'd grown up the eldest of nine and, even as a child, fully expected to be married by 21 and a mother by 22. I envisioned a house filled with childish laughter and a white picket fence out front. Now, at 35, I'm wiser and older (although the two did not happen concurrently) and have accepted the very real likelihood that motherhood is not in the works for me, just as I accepted that marriage was not for me about four years ago.

That's a very personal thing to put out there for a review, I admit. But that's how this book affected me. What You Wish For is a novel about unconventional parents. It's about adoption, IVF, natural pregnancy, birth, death, and life. It's real, honest, and it does not pull any punches. Kerry Reichs lays the facts out with brutal honesty and follows the natural path when it comes to the story of Maryn, Eva, Julian, Wyatt, and Dimple - even if that brings harm or an "unhappy ending."

Honestly, I loved and hated this book. I loved it for being so engrossing - I didn't want to put it down. I hated it for being so real. I hated seeing the facts about being a 35 year old woman put down on the page, and knowing that - if I decide to go the same route as Dimple - I may be facing some of the same difficulties. I hated reading about how difficult it is for a single man to adopt, or seeing what happens when zealots get their hands on information for political gains. What You Wish For is more than a feel-good novel, it's a contemporary study on what life is like now, what it is like to try to be a parent in a world that says that the "normal" parents are one man and one woman.

This is an important story and Kerry Reichs does a great job of pushing past the limits to deliver it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Another great read from Reichs July 4, 2012

By Luanne Ollivier TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

I adored Kerry Reichs' previous book - Leaving Unknown. (review here) So, I was eager to dive into her latest release - What You Wish For.

We are rapidly introduced to the characters who populate Reichs' tale - and they all have one thing in common. Children. The desire to have them or in some cases - to not have them.

Dimple was first up. She's a moderately successful actress, closing in on the the end of her ticking biological clock. Can the role of a lifetime beat out her desire to have a child? I did find her opening chapter a bit frenetic and didn't really warm up to this character until midway through the book.

Eva has no desire to have children. Will this end her relationship with the man she loves? Or will she change her mind?

Maryn has battled breast cancer and won. Before her treatment, she froze eggs with her then husband. They've since divorced and she needs his approval to use the eggs. But his new wife says no. Will he change his mind?

And my favourite character - Wyatt. He's the principal of a high school, single and straight and he wants to have a child of his own. He's headed down the surrogacy route. Wyatt was just so warm, caring and innocent. But at the same time he's wise to the ways of his high schoolers. These were some of my favourite chapters.

And these four main characters' lives all intersect in the most interesting fashion....

Loved it! Once I had the characters and their lives straight in my head, What You Wish For was an easy, breezy read. Reichs is a clever writer. The amount of puns she worked in between two characters was truly funny. (and some of them were emminently groan worthy!) The banter is light, some situations are quite comical, but there is a depth to What You Wish For that transcends everyday chick lit. Reichs explores the desire to have children from four very different viewpoints with candor and thoughtfulness, allowing the reader to share in each character's decision making - and think about what really consitutes a family.

Reichs utilizes Hollywood as a backdrop for her novel. Her sly skewering of televison dramas and starlets made me laugh out loud.

Fair warning - have the tissue box close by for the ending. My husband looked at me and asked - are you really crying over a book? Umm - yeah, I got that caught up in the story. Thanks Kerry for yet another great read. Pop this one in the beach bag this summer - you won't regret it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe, baby? July 3, 2012

By Wiley

Format:Paperback

Kerry Reichs does an excellent job of weaving a colorful tapestry of characters bound and determined to take on the never ending job that is parenthood and all the trials and tribulations it takes to get there. The characters in this book will speak to everyone who reads it. Be careful to clear your calendars and put your phones on vibrate, as you will have a tough time putting this book down.