Title:The Nearness to You
Author: Amanda Eyre Ward (Facebook) (Website) (Twitter) (Instagram) (Goodreads)
Genre: Literary
Publisher: HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books (January 31, 2017)
Length: 7 hours and 45 minutes
Source: Audiobook Jukebox‘s reviewer program
About the Book: (From Goodreads)
In this profound and lyrical novel, acclaimed author Amanda Eyre Ward explores the deeper meanings of motherhood—from the first blissful hello to the heart-wrenching prospect of saying goodbye.
Brilliant heart surgeon Suzette Kendall is stunned when Hyland, her husband of fifteen years, admits his yearning for a child. From the beginning, they’d decided that having children was not an option, as Suzette feared passing along the genes that landed her mother in a mental institution. But Hyland proposes a different idea: a baby via surrogate.
Suzette agrees, and what follows is a whirlwind of candidate selections, hospital visits, and Suzette’s doubts over whether she’s made the right decision. A young woman named Dorothy Muscarello is chosen as the one who will help make this family complete. For Dorrie, surrogacy (and the money that comes with it) are her opportunity to leave behind a troubled past and create a future for herself—one full of possibility. But this situation also forces all three of them—Dorrie, Suzette, and Hyland—to face a devastating uncertainty that will reverberate in the years to come.
Beautifully shifting between perspectives, The Nearness of You deftly explores the connections we form, the families we create, and the love we hold most dear.
My Review: 3/ liked it – The initial story line of The Nearness of You starts with Suzette a heart surgeon. She is very career orientated and does not want to have any children. She is afraid her upbringing has not prepared her to be a good mother. Suzette is also concerned that her mother’s mental health problems will be passed on. Hyland is an architect and changes his mind. He now wants to have a baby, even though he agreed to this arrangement previously.
Suzette and Hyland do decide to start a family through surrogacy. This is where 21 year old Dorrie, looking to escape her current life, comes into the story. Dorrie agrees to be Suzette and Hyland’s surrogate. She plans to use the money from being a surrogate to escape her life with her mother and attend college. Nearness to You by Amanda Eyre Ward is told in alternating view points. The view points of Dorrie, Suzette and Hyland are very well conveyed in regards to their feelings about having a baby, their fears and concerns about surrogacy.
Dorrie decides to keep the baby. She has to live a life of fear and makes many poor decisions to keep her baby. Later, the baby, is raised by Suzette and Hyland. She is named Eloise, after Hylands sister. Eloise struggles with feelings of not belonging as a teen and seeks answers. She goes down a scary path, which leads her to some surprising information. The pace of the story is good and keeps you engage. There are twists and turns to keep you interested. The ending leaves far too many loose ends, felt rushed and did not give me closure with the characters and their stories. It felt like the author just stop writing before the end. The journey to the end was wonderful, the ending just fell flat for me.
Nearness to You is a emotional read dealing with surrogacy, the bond of motherhood and difficult childhood experiences and how those experiences affect us.
My Rating Scale: 1 – didn’t like it; 2 – it was ok; 3 – liked it; 4 – really liked it; 5 – it was amazing
Happy Reading! 
**Disclosure – The Nearness to You by Amanda Eyre Ward was received from The Audiobook Jukebox reviewer program in exchange for a fair review. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.
