Books & Java

Pretty Baby

by Mary Kubica

Synopsis:  

She sees the teenage girl on the train platform, standing in the pouring rain, clutching an infant in her arms. She boards a train and is whisked away. But she can't get the girl out of her head...


Heidi Wood has always been a charitable woman: she works for a nonprofit, takes in stray cats. Still, her husband and daughter are horrified when Heidi returns home one day with a young woman named Willow and her four-month-old baby in tow. Disheveled and apparently homeless, this girl could be a criminal—or worse. But despite her family's objections, Heidi invites Willow and the baby to take refuge in their home.

Heidi spends the next few days helping Willow get back on her feet, but as clues into Willow's past begin to surface, Heidi is forced to decide how far she's willing to go to help a stranger. What starts as an act of kindness quickly spirals into a story far more twisted than anyone could have anticipated.

My Review:

Mary Kubica is such a great suspense writer. I was so impressed with Good Girl and so looked forward to the next book by this brilliant writer of psychological suspense. 

Pretty Baby is a totally different story from Good Girl. Here, we explore the impact of losing a child to uncontrollable circumstance. Also, the effects of child and sexual abuse. It's hard to re-cap the story without giving away any of the many twists and turns Mary Kubica has cleanly and seamlessly intertwined in the two stories of Claire and Heidi. Heidi is a product of privilege. With a seemingly perfect life, Heidi has the opportunities that Claire can't even imagine. Claire is a runaway who shows up in Chicago along the miracle mile with a baby in tow.  She's mysterious and sad. She is the image and embodiment of the life of struggle and homelessness.   But, both of their stories are riddled with bones neatly and inevitably tucked deep in the closet.  Their completely dissimilar lives become connected in ways that are greatly needed in order for each to move forward and away from frightening and life-threatening pasts. 

I read this book in 2 days and it only took me that long because I have a full-time job. Otherwise, I would have read the entire book in one sitting. It grips you from the beginning and engages you in ways that make reading so thoroughly enjoyable. The stories are both sad and disturbing but I can't help but think how lucky I am because there are people who truly experience these horrors. I appreciated Kubica's spotlight on the horrors of sexual abuse, cancer, and the loss of a child (and a parent). These are all subjects that are hard to understand and deal with but Kubica is brilliant in presenting the consequences and the unfortunate reality of its effects. The only thing I had issue with in Pretty Baby was that the ending seemed rushed and too tidy.  I don't think most of these situations are this neatly settled. But, with that said, I do have to admit that it would have been really tough to end it more realistically as we relate to stories with a tidy ending. Great read however and I would highly recommend it.