Book Review - The Baby Planner

The Baby Planner by Josie Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've had this book on my shelf for a while, but I was reluctant to read it until now. Now, of course, that I'm "paper pregnant" and far enough along in the adoption process to feel confident, reading about babies, and the struggle to become a mom is easier for me.

Katie has been married for several years to a man who is putting off the decision to become parents. He has his career to focus on, and a child from a previous relationship that he never sees, and she has a career, and the economy is unstable - for every wish she has, he has an excuse why now is not the right time, despite the fact that Katie's biological clock is ticking relentlessly onward.

As her quiet desperation builds, Katie discovers that her department at work - and thus her job - has been eliminated. When her sister announces that she is pregnant, it seems at first that Katie has no further to fall, but the dream nursery binder that she prepares for her expecting sister catches the eye of another new mother at a baby store, and suddenly Katie finds herself thrust into a new career - Baby Planner - where she does all the research and much of the shopping for stressed out moms-to-be. If she can't plan for her own child, this seems like the next best thing.

Except that being around all the baby "stuff" and all the pregnant ladies and all the eventual babies that arrive does nothing more but increase her own need to have a child to call her own.

I related to Katie big-time. One of Josie Brown's biggest strengths as a writer is that her characters are so very real - from their flaws to their crowning glories, they are authentic, with easily relatable emotions and paths in life that you can see your friends or yourself taking. They aren't perfect - who among us is, after all? - but they are perfectly human, and that's what I loved about this book.

I found myself reading well into the wee hours, because I just couldn't desert Katie when things were going wrong for her, and I wanted to be there to see it when things took a turn for the better. My heart raced with her when her new business exploded on the internet, and I had a few laugh-out-loud moments at some of the crazy occurances that went along with trying to organize a whole bunch of mothers and babies and husbands and other siblings that came along with the territory.

I shouldn't have been so scared of this book. Any woman who has experienced infertility, child loss, or any other stumbling block on the way to motherhood will understand Katie and be able to relate to her struggles. Even when she is sabotaging herself.

Full of fun dialogue, a fascinating cast of characters and more than a few surprise twists and turns, The Baby Planner is an excellent read and I recommend it highly.

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