Weiner '91 explores egg-donorship, surrogacy in new novel

Published in the July 6, 2011, Issue

(Courtesy JenniferWeiner.com)

New book: Then Came You, by Jennifer Weiner ’91 (Atria Books)

The author: Weiner is the bestselling author of nine books, including Good in Bed, In Her Shoes, and Fly Away Home. She also is the executive producer for the ABC Family show State of Georgia.

The book: Jules Wildgren is a Princeton senior who decides to sell her “pedigree” eggs to help save her father from addiction. Annie Barrow, married to her high school sweetheart and the mother of two boys, believes that becoming a surrogate will not only help out another family, but also her own. India Bishop falls for a wealthy older man and thinks that having a child will ensure a happy ending. She turns to technology when her attempts at conceiving a child fail. These stories come together in a tale that explores the making of a truly modern family.

Opening lines: [Jules] “The man in the suit was watching me again. It was March of my senior year in college, a clear, chilly afternoon, when I felt what was, by then, the familiar weight of a man’s gaze, while I sat by myself, in the food court. I looked up from my dinner, and he was at the end of the line for the salad place, looking at me the way he had for the past three weeks. I sighed. This was one of my favorite places, and I didn’t want to give it up because of some creep. ...”

Reviews: Publishers Weekly called Then Came You a “savvy tale” that tells the “complicated and hopeful” story of how baby Aurora was born. Each woman’s individual path is related in different chapters “told with equal parts love and longing.” Claudia Deane of The Washington Post wrote that friendship, not love, “is the main event” in Weiner's novel. “If you’re a Weiner fan ... you’ll lap it up,” Deane concluded. “And if you don’t know her yet, here’s the place to start.”