July 28, 2010 @ 6:36 am | Filed under: Books,CFBA Reviews

A Book Review: Lucky Baby by Meredith Efken

Reading and reviewing Meredith Efken’s  Lucky Baby  is like taking in a long, cool drink that refreshes the heart of a mother in a way that is totally unexpected—but greatly appreciated.  With the pressure to either 1) become a mother or 2) be a SuperMom, this novel’s main theme of a mother’s love is absolutely relevant in today’s culture.

 I found the stark honesty rang true and I think many moms will recognize themselves or someone they know in Efken’s well-developed characters. The story itself is engaging, with a literary technique called magical realism which includes some elements of fantasy in a realistic world. The emotions run high in this book, and this raises the intensity level in several parts of the story.

 All her life, Meg Lindsay’s mother told her what a disappointment she was. Try as she might, Meg never measured up, and the emotional bruises still hurt as an adult. In Meg’s opinion, no one could be a worse mother than the woman who gave birth to her—that is, until Meg has a child of her own to care for.

 Two young girls lived in an orphanage in China. Unwanted because of a deformity and the lack of family registry, Little Zhen An was destined to spend her childhood in the orphanage. Her only friend was a slightly older blind girl, Wen Ming.

 After Meg and her husband, Lewis, adopt one of the girls, Meg’s love for her new daughter grows daily, but the tension, fear, and uncertainty of motherhood drive Meg to the brink of despair. Fearing that she is becoming the kind of mother she hates, she fights circumstance, rebellion, a loving but at times tense marriage, setbacks, and the native selfishness that lives in all of us.

 Meg’s journey is a magical one as East meets West and as imagination aligns with reality. Lucky Baby spans the world, bridges the gap between heart and soul, and shows that the greatest power on Earth is forgiveness.

 Meredith Efken is the author of the critically acclaimed SAHM I Am series that traces the friendship of a group of stay-at-home mothers through their emails to each other.

She has been a finalist for the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice award and the ACFW Book of the Year award, and critics use phrases like “charming,” “fresh,” and “pure delight” to describe her humorous yet insightful comedies.

Her newest book, Lucky Baby, broadens her literary horizons with a story full of mystical and spiritual wonder about an American family that adopts a child from China and the blind orphan girl who strives to create a family for herself in a lonely world.

 In addition to writing, Meredith is also owner of the Fiction Fix-It Shop, which offers freelance fiction editing and writing coaching, with the mission of encouraging other writers to reach their full potential. She serves on the steering team of her local writers’ group and volunteers as an online teacher for American Christian Fiction Writers.

 In her “spare” time, she and her husband enjoy learning Argentine tango and hanging out at the local bookstore. She studies Chinese and Welsh on a semi-random basis and plays keyboard and sings with her church’s worship band. She and her husband have two lively daughters, one very naughty snowshoe cat, and one very lazy Great Dane. They all live in a ramshackle Victorian fixer-upper in Nebraska.

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