Hold My Girl

Hold My Girl is an impressive and engaging new novel by Canadian author Charlene Carr and is a domestic drama that centres around two women in Halifax who are caught in a heartbreaking situation after an IVF error. The story is filled with emotional and ethical themes as Tess and Katherine fight for the custody of baby Rose, the daughter they both claim as their own.

The two women have had very different experiences on their road to motherhood. Tess is single and suffered the stillbirth of her daughter Hanna. Without the support of her family and with the ongoing impact of previous trauma, she makes bad choice after bad choice and her life has spiraled off track.

Katherine is living an idyllic middle-class married life. After years of trying to conceive, she and her husband Patrick are thrilled by the birth of their daughter Rose and have raised her surrounded by a strong extended family. But when news breaks of the IVF egg switch, they learn that Tess and Patrick are the biological parents of Rose. So where does that leave Katherine?

This is a book that is filled with interesting topics - social, legal and personal issues - as well as themes of motherhood, racism, adultery, addiction and family dysfunction. Carr balances the POVs of the two mothers well and readers will empathize with each woman, despite some of their problematic decisions and behaviours as they each try to prove they are the best mother for Rose. 

I have but two wee beefs: the explanation for the IVF mix-up could have had a bit more weight in the story and there's a twist that didn't feel necessary. That said, I appreciated how Carr explores the issues and shows that there are no easy answers to this complex and emotional situation. 

Hold My Girl is a poignant, thought-provoking and provocative story about loss, love, betrayal, infertility, motherhood and a heartbreaking dilemma that is centred around two mothers who are determined to raise their little girl. It would be a great pick for fans of Jodi Picoult and would provide book clubs great fodder for discussion. I eagerly look forward to reading what Charlene Carr writes next!

Note to Ontario residents: Charlene Carr will be at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival on Sunday September 10th. I am excited to meet me her and encourage book lovers to attend this amazing event - Eden Mills Writers Festival

Disclaimer: I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by the Eden Mills Writers' Festival in exchange for my honest review.

My Rating: 4 stars

Author: Charlene Carr

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Canadian

Type and Source: Trade Paperback from publisher

Publisher: HarperCollins Canada

First Published: January 24, 2023

Book Description from GoodReads: For fans of Jodi Picoult, Kate Hewitt and Ashley Audrain, a heart-wrenching novel about two women whose eggs are switched during IVF

Katherine is a woman full of obsessions. Everything clean, everything perfect, all the time. After seven years of trying—and failing—to conceive, she finally gives birth to Rose, her IVF miracle child. But she’s afraid that Rose may not be her daughter; her pale skin doesn’t match Katherine’s own.

Tess never got her happy ending. She took on IVF alongside Katherine and a group of hopeful mothers, but her daughter, Hanna, was stillborn. After a series of poor choices, she’s divorced, broke and stuck in a job that’s below her skill set.

Ten months later, Katherine and Tess get a call from the fertility clinic that reveals shocking news: the two women’s eggs were switched. While Katherine’s perfect life beings to crumble around her, for Tess it’s the glimmer of hope she needs to get her life back on track. But it will take a custody battle to decide who deserves to be Rose’s mother, a battle that will push both women to the brink.

With themes of racial identity, loss and betrayal, this emotional novel centred around a difficult moral question beautifully explores the complexities of motherhood.