Title: Little Pieces of Me by Alison Hammer
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Genre: Contemporary, Women’s Fiction
Length: 400 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss
Summary:
Following her acclaimed debut novel, You and Me and Us, Alison Hammer offers a deeply moving story of family and identity. When a DNA test reveals a long-buried secret, a woman must look to the past to understand her mother and herself.
When Paige Meyer gets an email from a DNA testing website announcing that her father is a man she never met, she is convinced there must be a mistake. But as she digs deeper into her mother’s past and her own feelings of being the odd child out growing up, Paige begins to question everything she thought she knew. Could this be why Paige never felt like she fit in her family, and why her mother always seemed to keep her at an arm’s length? And what does it mean for Paige’s memories of her father, a man she idolized and whose death she is still grieving?
Back in 1975, Betsy Kaplan, Paige’s mom, is a straightlaced sophomore at the University of Kansas. When her sweet but boring boyfriend disappoints her, Betsy decides she wants more out of life, and is tired of playing it safe. Enter Andy Abrams, the golden boy on campus with a potentially devastating secret. After their night together has unexpected consequences, Betsy is determined to bury the truth and rebuild a stable life for her unborn child, whatever the cost.
When Paige can’t get answers from her mother, she goes looking for the only other person who was there that night. The more she learns about what happened, the more she sees her unflappable, distant mother as a real person faced with an impossible choice. But will it be enough to mend their broken relationship?
Told in dual timelines, Little Pieces of Me examines identity and how the way we define ourselves changes (or not) through our life experiences.
Review:
Little Pieces of Me by Alison Hammer is a marvelous family-centric novel with a dual timeline.
Paige Meyer is already questioning who she is after losing her job when she learns another man is her biological father. She absolutely adored her dad, Mark, and two years after his death, she is still grieving his loss. She and her mom, Elizabeth, have never been close and as always, Elizabeth avoids discussing the hard stuff with her. Paige is relieved to finally understand why she has so many differences from her parents and twin sisters. But, will decide to meet her DNA Dad?
Paige is in her early forties and engaged to be married to Jeff Parker. Although he would drop everything to be there for her, she insists he continue concentrating on the promotion he is competing for. Luckily, her two best friends, Margaux and Maks, are there to support her. Paige first tries to convince herself the DNA match is wrong, but her mom’s reaction confirms there is no mistake. Paige does not know who she is anymore and even worse, she keenly feels the lack of a DNA connection to her beloved dad.
In 1975, Elizabeth is known as Betsy and she and her best friend Sissy are attending college. Betsy is in a serious relationship with her future husband whereas Sissy is happy to play the field. One evening, Mark introduces her to Andy Abrams who has a reputation as a ladies’ man. After meeting Andy, Betsy wonders if maybe she is moving too fast with Mark. Realizing that she might be settling for security over passion, she seizes the opportunity to act a little more like Sissy and a lot less like herself.
Andy is a football player whose looks and good manners make him very popular with the ladies on campus. He is very self-contained and keeps the most important parts of himself hidden away. Andy is a genuinely kind man who feels a bit of kinship with Betsy. Their evening of acting recklessly out of character has unintended consequences that remain hidden until Andy decides to upload his DNA to an ancestry website.
Written from three points of view, Little Pieces of Me is a multi-layered novel that is emotionally compelling. The characters are vibrantly developed with relatable foibles and unexpected strengths. The storyline is well-written and moves at a brisk pace. With Paige facing a difficult decision, Alison Hammer brings this heartfelt novel to an uplifting conclusion. I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend this emotional novel to readers of the genre.
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