Title: The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Historical (70s), Women’s Fiction
Length: 384 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
New York Times bestselling author Diane Chamberlain delivers a thrilling, mind-bending novel about one mother’s journey to save her child.
When Carly Sears, a young woman widowed by the Vietnam war, receives the news that her unborn baby girl has a heart defect, she is devastated. It is 1970, and she is told that nothing can be done to help her child. But her brother-in-law, a physicist with a mysterious past, tells her that perhaps there is a way to save her baby. What he suggests is something that will shatter every preconceived notion that Carly has. Something that will require a kind of strength and courage she never knew existed. Something that will mean an unimaginable leap of faith on Carly’s part.
And all for the love of her unborn child.
The Dream Daughter is a rich, genre-spanning, breathtaking novel about one mother’s quest to save her child, unite her family, and believe in the unbelievable. Diane Chamberlain pushes the boundaries of faith and science to deliver a novel that you will never forget.
Review:
The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain is a magical, thought-provoking and sometimes heartbreaking novel that is impossible to put down.
Twenty-six year old Caroline “Carly” Sears has already suffered heartrending losses when she discovers her unborn baby has a fatal heart defect. She is very distraught since her baby is the last piece of her husband, Joe, who was killed in action in Vietnam. Her brother-in-law Hunter Poole tells Carly he knows of a way to save her baby but she is initially skeptical. After he offers irrefutable proof he is telling the truth, Carly knows she will do whatever it takes to save her unborn child. However, unforeseen circumstances leave Carly in an untenable situation which forces her to make a gut-wrenching decision.
Carly and Joe are teenage sweethearts whose romance survives despite the distance between them. Happily married after graduating from college, Carly is supportive of his military career. Despite the protests surrounding the controversial Vietnam War, Carly and Joe have no reason to doubt the US efforts in Vietnam are just. Soon after Joe arrives in Vietnam, Carly discovers she is pregnant and her beloved husband is killed in action. Learning about her unborn baby’s heart problem is a crippling blow but can she trust Hunter’s certainty that his proposition is the only way to save her child?
With a cast of likable and sympathetic characters, The Dream Daughter is an imaginative, compelling novel that quickly capture readers’ attention. The premise quite intriguing and Diane Chamberlain brilliantly executes the ingenious storyline. Carly’s situation is heart-wrenching and readers will be fully invested as she wrestles with an impossible choice that will break her heart no matter what she decides. An utterly captivating novel that I absolutely loved and HIGHLY recommend.
