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Buy Buy Baby
Set in and around Glasgow, Buy Buy Baby is a moving and funny story of life, loss and longing.
Packed full of bitchy banter, it follows the bittersweet quest of two very different women united by the same desire – they desperately want a baby.
Carol talks to her dog, has an expensive eBay habit and relies on wine to forget she’s no longer a mum following the death of her young son.
Cheeky besom Julia is career-driven and appears to have it all. But after disastrous attempts at internet dating, she feels there is a baby-shaped hole in her life.
In steps Dan, a total charmer with a solution to their problems.
But only if they are willing to pay the price, on every level...
'Buy Buy Baby is energised by the biological clocks of its main characters, and deals with complex issues of grief, betrayal, abuse, ageing, donor anonymity and single parenthood. A cracker of a read.' – Helen Fitzgerald, Author of Viral
Packed full of bitchy banter, it follows the bittersweet quest of two very different women united by the same desire – they desperately want a baby.
Carol talks to her dog, has an expensive eBay habit and relies on wine to forget she’s no longer a mum following the death of her young son.
Cheeky besom Julia is career-driven and appears to have it all. But after disastrous attempts at internet dating, she feels there is a baby-shaped hole in her life.
In steps Dan, a total charmer with a solution to their problems.
But only if they are willing to pay the price, on every level...
'Buy Buy Baby is energised by the biological clocks of its main characters, and deals with complex issues of grief, betrayal, abuse, ageing, donor anonymity and single parenthood. A cracker of a read.' – Helen Fitzgerald, Author of Viral
- GenresFiction
298 pages, Paperback
Published July 5, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 14, 2016
‘For every woman who is unhappy with her stretch marks, there is another woman who wishes she had them.’
I’m so pleased I had the opportunity to read Buy Buy Baby for review as I just loved it. This is the first novel I have read by Helen and she is now firmly on my list of go to authors. Buy Buy Baby is refreshingly different and I could not put it down.
Carol and Julia are two very different characters, yet I could relate easily to both of them. They are both wanting the same thing - a baby - and yet it effects them in such different ways. Carol has been a mother, but motherhood was taken from her following the death of her son. Her marriage has broken down and her chances of having another child seem impossible. Julia has spent most of her adult life concentrating on her career and is now pushing on forty. Discovering her long term partner did not want children, she finds herself single and the chance of motherhood seems to be slipping from her grasp.
As the women’s stories gradually unfold, you find your views on their predicament change and evolve, but despite this I had a great affection for both of them. Helen touches on some difficult issues and yet she manages to mix this with wicked humour and this book had me both laughing and feeling sad. The first line is fantastically funny and immediately drew me into the book and the lives of Carol and Julia.
Dan appears charming on first appearance but as the book progressed I did not know how I felt about him, and I still find myself pondering over this. The issues he raises really makes you think - how far would you go to get something you are desperate for and what are the repercussions of this? This is a cracking read for a reading group as I found myself pondering it for days afterwards!
I had no idea how this book would end and was compelled to keep reading to discover the fates of the women and the decisions they made. It is totally gripping and all absorbing.
Buy Buy Baby is a fantastic book that has the perfect blend of serious issues with fantastic humour. Helen’s writing will strike a chord with any woman (or man) whose dreams of having a child has been taken away from them. It made me think and contemplate issues that I hadn’t thought about before yet it never felt maudlin. Absolutely brilliant!
A huge thank you to Helen MacKinven and Cranachan for the copy in exchange for an honest review.
Published 7 July 2016 by Cranachan Publishing.
I’m so pleased I had the opportunity to read Buy Buy Baby for review as I just loved it. This is the first novel I have read by Helen and she is now firmly on my list of go to authors. Buy Buy Baby is refreshingly different and I could not put it down.
Carol and Julia are two very different characters, yet I could relate easily to both of them. They are both wanting the same thing - a baby - and yet it effects them in such different ways. Carol has been a mother, but motherhood was taken from her following the death of her son. Her marriage has broken down and her chances of having another child seem impossible. Julia has spent most of her adult life concentrating on her career and is now pushing on forty. Discovering her long term partner did not want children, she finds herself single and the chance of motherhood seems to be slipping from her grasp.
As the women’s stories gradually unfold, you find your views on their predicament change and evolve, but despite this I had a great affection for both of them. Helen touches on some difficult issues and yet she manages to mix this with wicked humour and this book had me both laughing and feeling sad. The first line is fantastically funny and immediately drew me into the book and the lives of Carol and Julia.
Dan appears charming on first appearance but as the book progressed I did not know how I felt about him, and I still find myself pondering over this. The issues he raises really makes you think - how far would you go to get something you are desperate for and what are the repercussions of this? This is a cracking read for a reading group as I found myself pondering it for days afterwards!
I had no idea how this book would end and was compelled to keep reading to discover the fates of the women and the decisions they made. It is totally gripping and all absorbing.
Buy Buy Baby is a fantastic book that has the perfect blend of serious issues with fantastic humour. Helen’s writing will strike a chord with any woman (or man) whose dreams of having a child has been taken away from them. It made me think and contemplate issues that I hadn’t thought about before yet it never felt maudlin. Absolutely brilliant!
A huge thank you to Helen MacKinven and Cranachan for the copy in exchange for an honest review.
Published 7 July 2016 by Cranachan Publishing.
May 19, 2016
Buy Buy Baby is a sharp and witty story that deals with some emotional issues. I haven't read Helen MacKinven's first novel, but I follow her on social media and I like her! I'm really happy to host her Blog Tour for Buy Buy Baby today.
The two central characters, Julia and Carol share a dream. They both want to become a mother, and that's all that they really have in common.
Carol was a mother, she isn't any more.
Her young son died and she spends her days talking to his dog Jinky, talking to women in a similar situation in online forums and spending too much money on eBay ... whilst drinking wine.
Julia is single-minded, with a great job, but not a lot of money. She's had a string of dates with guys she's met through internet dating sites. She recounts the gory details of her encounters to her friends, appearing to laugh along with them, but it's clear that inside, she is being to feel desperate.
Carol's story is told largely in the form of her journal, and this works really well, enabling the reader to learn more about her, and her background. Helen MacKinven gets right to the heart of Carol's sorrow as her words tumble on to the pages, to be read by nobody, and so so personal.
Along comes Dan, the guy who appears to be the answer to their prayers, but don't be fooled.
Buy Buy Baby is a modern, up-to-date novel, written with wit and perception. The author deals elegantly with issues that are discomforting at times, but she does it with incredible understanding and compassion. It is quite a gift to incorporate humour alongside darkness without appearing to undermine the importance of the themes of the story.
This is a well plotted story with characters who are vibrant and brilliantly drawn and I love the humour and the essence of Glasgow that is central. However, I do struggle with dialect and although not all of the dialogue is written this way, some of it it. This is purely a personal thing, something that is my failing as a reader, and certainly not a criticism of this clever author, lets face it, dialect hasn't done any harm to the career of Irvine Welsh and lots of readers love it. I do think that it's worth mentioning though, but don't let it put you off .. please.
Stylish, imaginative and witty, Buy Buy Baby comes with a recommendation from me
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June 17, 2017
If (like me) the thought of really getting inside a woman’s head fills you with abject horror, I suggest you stop reading now. There is absolutely nothing to see here; please move along. I have never before read a book that captures so well a woman’s contradictions, vulnerabilities, irationalities, sheer resourcefulness and force of will. At times the characters in Buy Buy Baby baffled me as much as many of my female friends and at points had me trying to shake some sense into them through the pages of my Kindle.
Speaking of Kindle, my review is of a relatively early Kindle draft which contained a couple of continuity blips which left me a little confused. Many thanks to the author for taking the time to answer my questions and for reasuring me that I wasn’t going mad. As they were all ironed out in the final draft, there is no need to dwell on them (or my sanity) here.
Buy Buy Baby is a character driven novel which often looks at events from multiple perspectives. This can have the effect of making progress a little slow but I like the twisting interpretations that this provides. I am the first to admit that what I think is not necessarily what I say or do and it is nice to see this reality captured in a book.
The structure of Buy Buy Baby should also be commended. Helen MacKinven takes two very different characters with completely different motivations and presents them with the same dilemma. This makes the moral questions more apparent and will make the reader question how they might have responded in similar circumstances. Without giving too much away, I was please to see that their responses weren’t always moulded to stereotypical type.
In summary, this isn’t really my sort of book but there were elements I enjoyed and I found much to commend. If this is your cup of tea then I am sure you will love it.
Speaking of Kindle, my review is of a relatively early Kindle draft which contained a couple of continuity blips which left me a little confused. Many thanks to the author for taking the time to answer my questions and for reasuring me that I wasn’t going mad. As they were all ironed out in the final draft, there is no need to dwell on them (or my sanity) here.
Buy Buy Baby is a character driven novel which often looks at events from multiple perspectives. This can have the effect of making progress a little slow but I like the twisting interpretations that this provides. I am the first to admit that what I think is not necessarily what I say or do and it is nice to see this reality captured in a book.
The structure of Buy Buy Baby should also be commended. Helen MacKinven takes two very different characters with completely different motivations and presents them with the same dilemma. This makes the moral questions more apparent and will make the reader question how they might have responded in similar circumstances. Without giving too much away, I was please to see that their responses weren’t always moulded to stereotypical type.
In summary, this isn’t really my sort of book but there were elements I enjoyed and I found much to commend. If this is your cup of tea then I am sure you will love it.
June 17, 2016
Time taken to read - 1 day
Publisher - Cranachan
Pages - 298
Blurb from Goodreads
What price tag would you put on a baby?
Set in and around Glasgow, Buy Buy Baby is a moving and funny story of life, loss and longing.
Packed full of bitchy banter, it follows the bittersweet quest of two very different women united by the same desire - they desperately want a baby.
Carol talks to her dog, has an expensive eBay habit and relies on wine to forget she's no longer a mum following the death of her young son.
Cheeky besom Julia is career-driven and appears to have it all. But after disastrous attempts at internet dating, she feels there is a baby-shaped hole in her life.
In steps Dan, a total charmer with a solution to their problems.
But only if they are willing to pay the price, on every level...
My Review
Two women living in Glasgow, Carol who, life as she knew it halted after her son's death and is now filled with Ebay impulse buys and talking to, and for, her dog Jinky. And Julia, a career driven woman with disastrous online dating attempts and a ticking biological clock. The two women could not be more different but both have a longing for a baby and one man could be the answer to their prayers.
I don't often comment on book covers, although to be fair, of late, I have found myself drawn to or passing comment on some. Buy Buy Baby sports the face of a doll with piercing blue eyes which I think most people would stop for a gander passing it on a bookshelf. It catches your eye and draws you to it, not giving much away to what the genre or content could be, kudos to the designer & team, it certainly deserves a mention. My copy is the exact same as the picture featured on this review & synced picture on Goodreads, if you normally scroll past have a wee scroll back up and check it out, eerie and eye catching!
This is MacKinven's second book and sports her trademark humor stamp but also having, a deeper, more adult feel to it. The themes cover grief, loss, love, relationships, abuse, friendship and many more infused with Glasgow humour whilst tackling some dark subjects. Looking at how one woman tries to cope with the loss of a child and get through everyday with the other coming to realise something is missing in her life and just how far each will go to obtain their goal.
I think this book may stir up a host of emotions for many readers, the content addresses some brutal aspects of adult life that many readers may have experienced or identify with. Buy Buy Baby is a story that will make you snort with laughter & well up as you go on an emotional rollercoaster with two ladies desperate for a baby. Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review, 4/5 for me this time. I look forward to more from this author and you can get a copy for yourself from 7th July 2016 from any good retailer.
Publisher - Cranachan
Pages - 298
Blurb from Goodreads
What price tag would you put on a baby?
Set in and around Glasgow, Buy Buy Baby is a moving and funny story of life, loss and longing.
Packed full of bitchy banter, it follows the bittersweet quest of two very different women united by the same desire - they desperately want a baby.
Carol talks to her dog, has an expensive eBay habit and relies on wine to forget she's no longer a mum following the death of her young son.
Cheeky besom Julia is career-driven and appears to have it all. But after disastrous attempts at internet dating, she feels there is a baby-shaped hole in her life.
In steps Dan, a total charmer with a solution to their problems.
But only if they are willing to pay the price, on every level...
My Review
Two women living in Glasgow, Carol who, life as she knew it halted after her son's death and is now filled with Ebay impulse buys and talking to, and for, her dog Jinky. And Julia, a career driven woman with disastrous online dating attempts and a ticking biological clock. The two women could not be more different but both have a longing for a baby and one man could be the answer to their prayers.
I don't often comment on book covers, although to be fair, of late, I have found myself drawn to or passing comment on some. Buy Buy Baby sports the face of a doll with piercing blue eyes which I think most people would stop for a gander passing it on a bookshelf. It catches your eye and draws you to it, not giving much away to what the genre or content could be, kudos to the designer & team, it certainly deserves a mention. My copy is the exact same as the picture featured on this review & synced picture on Goodreads, if you normally scroll past have a wee scroll back up and check it out, eerie and eye catching!
This is MacKinven's second book and sports her trademark humor stamp but also having, a deeper, more adult feel to it. The themes cover grief, loss, love, relationships, abuse, friendship and many more infused with Glasgow humour whilst tackling some dark subjects. Looking at how one woman tries to cope with the loss of a child and get through everyday with the other coming to realise something is missing in her life and just how far each will go to obtain their goal.
I think this book may stir up a host of emotions for many readers, the content addresses some brutal aspects of adult life that many readers may have experienced or identify with. Buy Buy Baby is a story that will make you snort with laughter & well up as you go on an emotional rollercoaster with two ladies desperate for a baby. Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review, 4/5 for me this time. I look forward to more from this author and you can get a copy for yourself from 7th July 2016 from any good retailer.
July 28, 2017
Are you looking for a Scottish read that will transport you right inside the heads of two very different women with one common aim? One that will have you reminiscing over friendships, bad relationship choices and the quandaries that life throws at us all? A bittersweet and poignant read laced with that well-known Glasgow gallows humour? Then pick up Buy Buy Baby and give it a go!
Carol and Julia are two very different women but they have one thing in common, they both are yearning for a baby. Just how far are they prepared to go to make that dream come true? Buy Buy Baby is the story of these two women whose circumstances are very different – Carol is divorced and in pieces following the death of her son, Ben; she is in debt and has no idea just how much longer she is going to be able to survive; Julia is a career woman whose biological clock is ticking and is close to exploding; being a devoted aunt to her niece Holly is no longer enough and she wants her own child. In steps Dan, Dan has a plan – but what will the cost be to each of the women and are they prepared to go through with it?
This is NOT a fast paced, wham bam, explosive kind of read – ok, it’s not a psychological thriller and there is no police procedurals to get your heart racing! Just throwing that out there as you all know that is my go-to choice for fiction! Instead Bye Bye Baby has just given me a fabulous journey alongside two very different, but essentially very Scottish and indeed Glaswegian women who have their mindset on just one thing…a baby! But it is not a chick-lit kind of read either – I’m not quite sure where in the genres I’d place this one but I can tell you this it earned a special place in my heart’s reading shelf that’s for sure!
Carol and Julia – two very different women but I warmed to them both immediately; their vulnerability was clear despite the way they both covered it up and there was something about them both that I could see in myself and indeed in many women I know. It was kind of like crawling into the heads of your best pals and going on a night out with them; I found myself laughing with them, wanting to cry with them and wanting to knock Dan into next year with them too! What a sleaze ball he is! This is an excellent example of a character driven novel; of course, the plot is important but the characters are the driving force of Bye Bye Baby. I’m sure you can all relate to much of the scenarios in this book – talking to your dog (and answering back for it!); crying into your drink over the disasters that have happened to you; coming across that group of every so bitchy women – you know the yummy mummies who make it all look so effortless while you struggle by with your hair plastered to your head and yesterday’s makeup trying to pretend you are doing #gothicchic! Yes, there was so much of each woman’s character that I could identify with which made it a compelling read for me.
Buy Buy Baby explored the complexities of female relationships, parenthood, grief, domestic abuse and heartbreak but with a special twist of humour added that gave it that little extra oomph!
As well as the characters, this novel gave me something that I adore – that sense of place – set in and around Glasgow, the author uses fictional names for the towns but oh I sooooo recognised them indeed I am sure one of them is right next to me and the woodland walk just reminds me so much of the walk that I take my dog! So every page I turned I felt that not only was I inside the head of the character, I was also in the very location with them and this is always a bonus for me!
There is lots of local dialects Glaswegian and Doric (as Carol is originally from the North East of Scotland) but this is easy to work out in the context of the conversations and it added to the authenticity of the book for me.
I’m not really sure what I’ve told you about the book in this review, other than I completely gelled with the characters and the places; it made me snotty with laughter and with tears. It doesn’t give you all the answers and leaves you with dilemmas to ponder but sometimes in life, it is good to have something to think about!
Carol and Julia are two very different women but they have one thing in common, they both are yearning for a baby. Just how far are they prepared to go to make that dream come true? Buy Buy Baby is the story of these two women whose circumstances are very different – Carol is divorced and in pieces following the death of her son, Ben; she is in debt and has no idea just how much longer she is going to be able to survive; Julia is a career woman whose biological clock is ticking and is close to exploding; being a devoted aunt to her niece Holly is no longer enough and she wants her own child. In steps Dan, Dan has a plan – but what will the cost be to each of the women and are they prepared to go through with it?
This is NOT a fast paced, wham bam, explosive kind of read – ok, it’s not a psychological thriller and there is no police procedurals to get your heart racing! Just throwing that out there as you all know that is my go-to choice for fiction! Instead Bye Bye Baby has just given me a fabulous journey alongside two very different, but essentially very Scottish and indeed Glaswegian women who have their mindset on just one thing…a baby! But it is not a chick-lit kind of read either – I’m not quite sure where in the genres I’d place this one but I can tell you this it earned a special place in my heart’s reading shelf that’s for sure!
Carol and Julia – two very different women but I warmed to them both immediately; their vulnerability was clear despite the way they both covered it up and there was something about them both that I could see in myself and indeed in many women I know. It was kind of like crawling into the heads of your best pals and going on a night out with them; I found myself laughing with them, wanting to cry with them and wanting to knock Dan into next year with them too! What a sleaze ball he is! This is an excellent example of a character driven novel; of course, the plot is important but the characters are the driving force of Bye Bye Baby. I’m sure you can all relate to much of the scenarios in this book – talking to your dog (and answering back for it!); crying into your drink over the disasters that have happened to you; coming across that group of every so bitchy women – you know the yummy mummies who make it all look so effortless while you struggle by with your hair plastered to your head and yesterday’s makeup trying to pretend you are doing #gothicchic! Yes, there was so much of each woman’s character that I could identify with which made it a compelling read for me.
Buy Buy Baby explored the complexities of female relationships, parenthood, grief, domestic abuse and heartbreak but with a special twist of humour added that gave it that little extra oomph!
As well as the characters, this novel gave me something that I adore – that sense of place – set in and around Glasgow, the author uses fictional names for the towns but oh I sooooo recognised them indeed I am sure one of them is right next to me and the woodland walk just reminds me so much of the walk that I take my dog! So every page I turned I felt that not only was I inside the head of the character, I was also in the very location with them and this is always a bonus for me!
There is lots of local dialects Glaswegian and Doric (as Carol is originally from the North East of Scotland) but this is easy to work out in the context of the conversations and it added to the authenticity of the book for me.
I’m not really sure what I’ve told you about the book in this review, other than I completely gelled with the characters and the places; it made me snotty with laughter and with tears. It doesn’t give you all the answers and leaves you with dilemmas to ponder but sometimes in life, it is good to have something to think about!
October 2, 2017
Buy Buy Baby is the story of two single women, both desperate to have a baby. Being child-free by choice, the ticking biological clock is not something I can identify with, but that doesn't stop this being a good read. The two characters are well written - the dark Scottish humour lifts the narrative throughout. Although personally I found Julia's sudden 'need' to have a baby despite always professing she never wanted to be a mother slightly stereotypical, that must be the reality for some. I guess it grated on me because people always say to you when you choose not to have children "You'll change your mind when you get older". The general depiction of women is pretty spot on - simultaneously warm, loving, bitchy, backstabbing, strong, desperate, loyal and selfish. The men don't come off too well though - they are all cheating, abusive, self-obsessed and manipulative. The plot is somewhat far-fetched but it's an interesting idea - how far would someone go to get what they want?
April 1, 2025
Buy Buy Baby… was not what I was expecting from the cover. I didn’t read a blurb, I went in blind. This is the first book I’ve read by this author, I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. I couldn’t connect to Julia or Carol, I felt like they were very selfish, self centred characters. While I could feel for Carol losing her son and longing for another child, and I could feel for Julia longing for a baby of her own, I couldn’t get behind the whole buying sperm from a stranger in a park when neither character knew this Dan. I’ve lost a baby before, I’ve longed for a baby, but there is nothing normal about Carol or Julia. We never find out what happens to Dan, did Steve pay the blackmail ransom? The ending was very rushed. There is a lot of witty lines in the book, lots of Scottish-isms, Scottish words and phrases. Being from Scotland it was nice to see that in a book, but that was my only real like from the book.
September 1, 2017
This book is an easy read (except for the dialogue passages where the author uses Scottish slang - this is exceptionally hard to read when you are not a native speaker, but it is bearable). It was interesting to see the same kind of story unravelling from two different points of view, from two different women. At one point, when their lives intertwined, I got a bit confused about whose story I am reading, but I should have expected that they would meet at one point.
What I did mind a bit was the fact that we didn´t know what was going on for half of the book - it was really slow to unravel and then the actual proposal seemed rather ridiculous and unrealistic. I would like to see this scenario becoming true in real life...
Other than that, nice read with some funny passages.
What I did mind a bit was the fact that we didn´t know what was going on for half of the book - it was really slow to unravel and then the actual proposal seemed rather ridiculous and unrealistic. I would like to see this scenario becoming true in real life...
Other than that, nice read with some funny passages.
May 16, 2017
Enjoyed the dual narrative, related to and appreciated the portrayal of our messy morals and muddled motivations. Big thumbs up. This book leaves some pretty indelible memories.
June 23, 2016
I have met the author Helen MacKinven a couple of times and her distinctive writing voice really comes across in her writing. Cranachan is quite a new publishing company who focus on “sourcing the finest, freshest writing so that we can produce books that our readers will want to devour in one sitting” – just like the dessert the company is named after. Well a busy few days meant I didn’t quite read Buy Buy Baby in one sitting but I would have been happy to do so if I’d had the time.
In Buy Buy Baby we meet Carol and Julia who, for different reasons, are both desperate to have a baby. They are both single woman and fear that time may be running out for them to be come mothers. Carol’s son died in an car accident and she cannot quite believe she is no longer a mum. Julia is a career girl, absolutely adores her young niece Holly but is hearing the biological clock ticking all too loudly. She has tried internet dating but it hasn’t quite worked out for her. When Carol meets Dan while both out dog-walking, it looks as though perhaps here is her chance for love and possibly to become a mum again. However, Julia also meets Dan and he seems rather keen on her too! Both women now seem to have the possibility of motherhood within touching distance but at what cost?
Carol was a character I felt a lot of empathy for. Her story was so sad with her son dying in that accident and she was clearly grieving so much for him. We start to realise that there is more to this than just a car accident and that somehow Carol’s ex-husband was involved. As more about what happened was revealed my heart went out to her. She had been through some awful experiences and I just wanted to give her a hug. Julia wasn’t perhaps so easy to warm initially, as she was rather nippy to use a good Scots word (rough translation: sharp tongued, a bit bad tempered). She had focussed very much on her career and always felt that her sister was the golden girl of the family. When Carol met Dan, I hoped that this was going to blossom into a romance for her. He seemed lovely – for about five minutes that is as he was soon giving Julia the same kind of chat up lines! I was reading in disbelief really at the cheek of the man especially when he puts the same proposal to both women.
Helen Mackinven has written a sharply observed novel showing so well how both these women feel as they desperately want to become mothers. There is a lot which women will identify with whether mothers or not. Anyone who has ever had a desperate desire to do something will understand why Julia and Carol were prepared to do almost anything to achieve their dreams. My heart was sinking at times as they made one poor decision after another and lied to their families and friends in their efforts to have a child. One thing in particular that Carol did had me wanting to reach into the book to give her a shake and tell her not to do it!
Buy Buy Baby is a warm, funny and moving read which I loved. The themes of grief, domestic abuse, parenthood, dating and ticking biological clocks are brought together brilliantly. The Scots dialect made the characters feel really authentic to me. As to whether either of the women were successful in their quest to become mothers, well you’ll need to read for yourself to find out and I highly recommend that you do.
In Buy Buy Baby we meet Carol and Julia who, for different reasons, are both desperate to have a baby. They are both single woman and fear that time may be running out for them to be come mothers. Carol’s son died in an car accident and she cannot quite believe she is no longer a mum. Julia is a career girl, absolutely adores her young niece Holly but is hearing the biological clock ticking all too loudly. She has tried internet dating but it hasn’t quite worked out for her. When Carol meets Dan while both out dog-walking, it looks as though perhaps here is her chance for love and possibly to become a mum again. However, Julia also meets Dan and he seems rather keen on her too! Both women now seem to have the possibility of motherhood within touching distance but at what cost?
Carol was a character I felt a lot of empathy for. Her story was so sad with her son dying in that accident and she was clearly grieving so much for him. We start to realise that there is more to this than just a car accident and that somehow Carol’s ex-husband was involved. As more about what happened was revealed my heart went out to her. She had been through some awful experiences and I just wanted to give her a hug. Julia wasn’t perhaps so easy to warm initially, as she was rather nippy to use a good Scots word (rough translation: sharp tongued, a bit bad tempered). She had focussed very much on her career and always felt that her sister was the golden girl of the family. When Carol met Dan, I hoped that this was going to blossom into a romance for her. He seemed lovely – for about five minutes that is as he was soon giving Julia the same kind of chat up lines! I was reading in disbelief really at the cheek of the man especially when he puts the same proposal to both women.
Helen Mackinven has written a sharply observed novel showing so well how both these women feel as they desperately want to become mothers. There is a lot which women will identify with whether mothers or not. Anyone who has ever had a desperate desire to do something will understand why Julia and Carol were prepared to do almost anything to achieve their dreams. My heart was sinking at times as they made one poor decision after another and lied to their families and friends in their efforts to have a child. One thing in particular that Carol did had me wanting to reach into the book to give her a shake and tell her not to do it!
Buy Buy Baby is a warm, funny and moving read which I loved. The themes of grief, domestic abuse, parenthood, dating and ticking biological clocks are brought together brilliantly. The Scots dialect made the characters feel really authentic to me. As to whether either of the women were successful in their quest to become mothers, well you’ll need to read for yourself to find out and I highly recommend that you do.
July 8, 2016
Originally posted here: https://heatherreviews.com/2016/08/17...
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I was lucky enough to attend the book launch for Buy Buy Baby back in July and picked up my copy of the book there. It was the first book I got that is published by Cranachan and it was such a gripping read that I practically read it in one sitting.
Carol and Julia are both in a point in their lives where they feel something is missing: specifically a child. Carol was a mum before, but sadly lost her little boy in an accident. Ever since then, she’s become more reclusive and doing her best to avoid her ex-husband. Julia has always focused on her career. She never wanted kids in the past but she feels like now is the right time. Enter Dan, the charming new arrival that seems to have the answer to both their problems. But just how far are the women willing to go in order to have the child they so desperately want?
Told in dual perspectives in alternating chapters, I feel in love with both women’s voices and flew through the book. Carol has had a hard life. Her husband used to abuse her and then he up and left her and their son for a younger woman. Working in a small flower shop, Carol gets by but her addiction to ebay is becoming a problem and when Dan enters her life with his generous offer, she wonders just exactly how to make it happen.
I loved Carol’s story. She seemed like such a sweet woman who’d been through a lot. I found the gradual reveal of what happened to her son to be an interesting break from her current baby dreams, and it helped to understand her situation more. She was a mother without a child and you so badly wanted things to go right for her.
Julia has worked hard for everything she has and you can tell she’s a driven individual, but there’s also the soft underbelly that she keeps hidden – so well hidden, in fact, that her family and friends mock her when she speaks about having a child. She’s broken up with her long-term boyfriend because he didn’t want children and now she feels like her time is running out.
I loved Julia’s side of the story. She was such a genuine character and as more of her past was revealed, my heart ached for what she’d gone through. When Dan enters the scene, I wondered whether he had planned it all along. Dan’s a shady character and I was never really sure what to make of him, but by the end everything seems to work out for the best.
It was interesting to see the conclusion to the two sides. How differently the women acted and the outcomes that came from it. A great summer read, full of personality, heartbreak, and trouble.
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I was lucky enough to attend the book launch for Buy Buy Baby back in July and picked up my copy of the book there. It was the first book I got that is published by Cranachan and it was such a gripping read that I practically read it in one sitting.
Carol and Julia are both in a point in their lives where they feel something is missing: specifically a child. Carol was a mum before, but sadly lost her little boy in an accident. Ever since then, she’s become more reclusive and doing her best to avoid her ex-husband. Julia has always focused on her career. She never wanted kids in the past but she feels like now is the right time. Enter Dan, the charming new arrival that seems to have the answer to both their problems. But just how far are the women willing to go in order to have the child they so desperately want?
Told in dual perspectives in alternating chapters, I feel in love with both women’s voices and flew through the book. Carol has had a hard life. Her husband used to abuse her and then he up and left her and their son for a younger woman. Working in a small flower shop, Carol gets by but her addiction to ebay is becoming a problem and when Dan enters her life with his generous offer, she wonders just exactly how to make it happen.
I loved Carol’s story. She seemed like such a sweet woman who’d been through a lot. I found the gradual reveal of what happened to her son to be an interesting break from her current baby dreams, and it helped to understand her situation more. She was a mother without a child and you so badly wanted things to go right for her.
Julia has worked hard for everything she has and you can tell she’s a driven individual, but there’s also the soft underbelly that she keeps hidden – so well hidden, in fact, that her family and friends mock her when she speaks about having a child. She’s broken up with her long-term boyfriend because he didn’t want children and now she feels like her time is running out.
I loved Julia’s side of the story. She was such a genuine character and as more of her past was revealed, my heart ached for what she’d gone through. When Dan enters the scene, I wondered whether he had planned it all along. Dan’s a shady character and I was never really sure what to make of him, but by the end everything seems to work out for the best.
It was interesting to see the conclusion to the two sides. How differently the women acted and the outcomes that came from it. A great summer read, full of personality, heartbreak, and trouble.
July 16, 2016
I have a super guest piece from the author on the blog too - https://lindasbookbag.com/2016/07/13/...
Two very different women, Carol and Julia, have one thing in common – the desire for a baby. When they both meet Dan, this desire will lead to more complications than they could possibly envisage.
I thoroughly enjoyed Buy Buy Baby and noticed that, whilst the characteristics that make this very much a Helen MacKinven novel are still there, there is a greater sophistication to her writing now too from her debut Talk of the Toun. I really appreciated the variety to the narrative, with the range of sentence structures and the use of Carol’s journal so that I found Buy Buy Baby very entertaining and convincing.
Buy Buy Baby is filled with local dialect and accent that gives a real sense of setting and character, especially to Carol. There’s also the wit and humour that I’ve come to expect from Helen’s writing. The tone is sharp, sassy and often littered with entirely appropriate expletives and colloquialisms so that it’s as if you’re meeting, rather than reading about, real people.
Also typical of Helen MacKinven’s writing is the fact that, underneath the banter and humour are some serious issues sensitively handled that make the reader think. Carol’s intense grief at the loss of her son Ben, both women’s need to have a child, the use of material possessions to enhance an otherwise unsatisfactory life – all these enhance the depth and quality of the novel.
Another aspect that appealed to me as a reader too was the literary conceit of writing. From Carol’s journal through Julia’s day job to Kirsty’s book launch there are nods to the writing world that give an extra layer of authenticity to Buy Buy Baby.
I really enjoyed Buy Buy Baby – and coming from someone not remotely maternal, that’s saying something!
Two very different women, Carol and Julia, have one thing in common – the desire for a baby. When they both meet Dan, this desire will lead to more complications than they could possibly envisage.
I thoroughly enjoyed Buy Buy Baby and noticed that, whilst the characteristics that make this very much a Helen MacKinven novel are still there, there is a greater sophistication to her writing now too from her debut Talk of the Toun. I really appreciated the variety to the narrative, with the range of sentence structures and the use of Carol’s journal so that I found Buy Buy Baby very entertaining and convincing.
Buy Buy Baby is filled with local dialect and accent that gives a real sense of setting and character, especially to Carol. There’s also the wit and humour that I’ve come to expect from Helen’s writing. The tone is sharp, sassy and often littered with entirely appropriate expletives and colloquialisms so that it’s as if you’re meeting, rather than reading about, real people.
Also typical of Helen MacKinven’s writing is the fact that, underneath the banter and humour are some serious issues sensitively handled that make the reader think. Carol’s intense grief at the loss of her son Ben, both women’s need to have a child, the use of material possessions to enhance an otherwise unsatisfactory life – all these enhance the depth and quality of the novel.
Another aspect that appealed to me as a reader too was the literary conceit of writing. From Carol’s journal through Julia’s day job to Kirsty’s book launch there are nods to the writing world that give an extra layer of authenticity to Buy Buy Baby.
I really enjoyed Buy Buy Baby – and coming from someone not remotely maternal, that’s saying something!
July 27, 2016
Carol and Julia are both single, thirty-something women who, for very different reasons, desperately want a baby.
Carol talks to her dog, has an expensive eBay habit and relies on wine to forget she’s no longer a mum following the death of her young son. Cheeky besom, Julia, is career-driven and appears to have it all, but ut after disastrous attempts at internet dating, she feels there is a baby-shaped hole in her life. In steps the charming (or is he?) Dan with a very high-priced solution.
Set in and around Glasgow, Buy Buy Baby is a moving and funny story of life, loss and longing.
Packed full of bitchy banter, it follows the bittersweet quest of two very different women united by the same desire.
Following on from her very popular debut, Talk of The Toun, Helen MacKinven has produced a second very accessible, entertaining and witty novel, this time involving the complex issues of motherhood. Carol knows what it’s like to be a mum; Julia has to admit that her confirmed-childless state is no longer what she wants. There is grief, uncertainty alongside the humour. The costs – financial and emotional – and the expectations – of themselves and others – are, and the potential solutions, for all kinds of reasons, are nothing short of a gamble.
MacKinven’s protagonists are strong and determined woman. They’ve come through a lot, and as a reader I never doubted each would win through, I just didn’t know how. I didn’t always like Carol or Julia, but I was interested in them, and constantly asked – what would I do in their places. It’s a new slant on an age-old theme, and as such, is very appealing.
For the non-Scots readers (me included) don’t be put off by Carol’s dialect! It adds authenticity, is easy enough to understand and my only problem was that I couldn‘t recreate it in my head in her standard-English diary.
Carol talks to her dog, has an expensive eBay habit and relies on wine to forget she’s no longer a mum following the death of her young son. Cheeky besom, Julia, is career-driven and appears to have it all, but ut after disastrous attempts at internet dating, she feels there is a baby-shaped hole in her life. In steps the charming (or is he?) Dan with a very high-priced solution.
Set in and around Glasgow, Buy Buy Baby is a moving and funny story of life, loss and longing.
Packed full of bitchy banter, it follows the bittersweet quest of two very different women united by the same desire.
Following on from her very popular debut, Talk of The Toun, Helen MacKinven has produced a second very accessible, entertaining and witty novel, this time involving the complex issues of motherhood. Carol knows what it’s like to be a mum; Julia has to admit that her confirmed-childless state is no longer what she wants. There is grief, uncertainty alongside the humour. The costs – financial and emotional – and the expectations – of themselves and others – are, and the potential solutions, for all kinds of reasons, are nothing short of a gamble.
MacKinven’s protagonists are strong and determined woman. They’ve come through a lot, and as a reader I never doubted each would win through, I just didn’t know how. I didn’t always like Carol or Julia, but I was interested in them, and constantly asked – what would I do in their places. It’s a new slant on an age-old theme, and as such, is very appealing.
For the non-Scots readers (me included) don’t be put off by Carol’s dialect! It adds authenticity, is easy enough to understand and my only problem was that I couldn‘t recreate it in my head in her standard-English diary.
October 11, 2016
I really wanted to like Buy Buy Baby. There are not many books that talk about single women wanting to have a child and issues that they deal with.
There was quite a lot to like about Buy Buy Baby but unfortunately, I also found that there was a lot that frustrated me. The two main characters were both unlikeable, often this is ok in a book but in this case, it definitely affected my enjoyment. And while the concept of how far you would go to find the money to have a much longed for baby is an interesting one I felt that something just didn't fit.
The biggest niggle that I had is that both Carol and Julia were intelligent women, yet they were totally taken in by a man who wanted a large amount of money for what they wanted. They both took his word for it that his was the simplest solution and so set about finding the money. They ignored the many potential problems around what they were doing and neither seemed to look into much safer and more affordable options. I found that this grated on me throughout the book and I would have quite happily shouted at Carol and Julia to wake up think about what they were doing!!
I also found the Scottish speak in the book made it harder for me to read, being dyslexic it doesn't take much to make reading more difficult and as a Londoner who is not familiar with Scottish accents it made reading more challenging.
Having said that Buy Buy Baby was well written and the story flowed well. I still think that it is great that there is a book dealing with the subject matter, I just wish that it had been done slightly more realistically.
I was sent a copy of Buy Buy Baby by the author Helen MacKinven. My review is impartial and has not been affected by this.
There was quite a lot to like about Buy Buy Baby but unfortunately, I also found that there was a lot that frustrated me. The two main characters were both unlikeable, often this is ok in a book but in this case, it definitely affected my enjoyment. And while the concept of how far you would go to find the money to have a much longed for baby is an interesting one I felt that something just didn't fit.
The biggest niggle that I had is that both Carol and Julia were intelligent women, yet they were totally taken in by a man who wanted a large amount of money for what they wanted. They both took his word for it that his was the simplest solution and so set about finding the money. They ignored the many potential problems around what they were doing and neither seemed to look into much safer and more affordable options. I found that this grated on me throughout the book and I would have quite happily shouted at Carol and Julia to wake up think about what they were doing!!
I also found the Scottish speak in the book made it harder for me to read, being dyslexic it doesn't take much to make reading more difficult and as a Londoner who is not familiar with Scottish accents it made reading more challenging.
Having said that Buy Buy Baby was well written and the story flowed well. I still think that it is great that there is a book dealing with the subject matter, I just wish that it had been done slightly more realistically.
I was sent a copy of Buy Buy Baby by the author Helen MacKinven. My review is impartial and has not been affected by this.
July 28, 2016
Carol is gradually getting her life back together after the death of her young son two years earlier, and the death of her marriage a little before that. In another part of Glasgow, Julia risks missing her deadlines as a freelance journalist in her dedication to upmarket dating websites. Carol’s dog and Julia’s niece bring them separately to the same park bench, blackened by the fungus that feeds on the fallout from the distillery, where they each encounter Dan, who proves to be a good listener. As he gains their trust, he has an interesting proposal: he can provide them with a baby if they’re prepared to pay the price.
Full review http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/annecdo...
Full review http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/annecdo...
January 18, 2017
This was a quirky, addictive, page-turning novel about two very different women, Carol and Julia, who have one big thing in common – the desperate want of a baby. Mysterious Dan seems to offer an answer, but is he all that he seems? There's plenty of Scottish dialect that adds to the charm. And despite the novel being about a very real - and very sad at times - issue, it is also funny and full of wonderfully crude language, adding realism to the characters. I loved the use of the journal for storytelling - I'm a real fan of this device. A great novel, that I recommend.
April 1, 2017
This novel has similarities to recent BBC series The Replacement, both set in Glasgow and about women's biological clock, the struggle to balance motherhood and career, and the pain of losing a child. The book and the TV series each have strengths and, unfortunately, more in the way of weaknesses, chiefly believability and story over character, also bad endings.
It isn't a bad book and other reviewers here clearly disagree with me given the four- and five- star ratings. Perhaps I expected too much or it was just a case of the wrong book for me; it happens and I don't blame the writer or their book for a mismatch: different strokes and all that. I finished it, out of curiosity to see how it all fitted together. And that was another letdown because it was just all too neat and anti-climactic, not at all where I thought it was going, not even as satisfying as The Replacement and that all went silly at the end!
Along the way the novel has some good things to bring out about the unimaginable pain of losing a child and about motherhood in general, how women struggle to manage expectations, relationships, work and childcare. Sadly, however, the plot lacks credibility and characters exist to serve the story at the expense of believability, particularly Julie, selfish career woman, doting Auntie, ticking biological clock, and Dan, dog walker, charmer and...well, that remains unexplained. Actually, the men in the book are all portrayed negatively, while women are manipulated and used, victims of male power, biology and social pressure.
I had many eye rolling moments, it was all just too silly and contrived to be convincing.. Not for me.
It isn't a bad book and other reviewers here clearly disagree with me given the four- and five- star ratings. Perhaps I expected too much or it was just a case of the wrong book for me; it happens and I don't blame the writer or their book for a mismatch: different strokes and all that. I finished it, out of curiosity to see how it all fitted together. And that was another letdown because it was just all too neat and anti-climactic, not at all where I thought it was going, not even as satisfying as The Replacement and that all went silly at the end!
Along the way the novel has some good things to bring out about the unimaginable pain of losing a child and about motherhood in general, how women struggle to manage expectations, relationships, work and childcare. Sadly, however, the plot lacks credibility and characters exist to serve the story at the expense of believability, particularly Julie, selfish career woman, doting Auntie, ticking biological clock, and Dan, dog walker, charmer and...well, that remains unexplained. Actually, the men in the book are all portrayed negatively, while women are manipulated and used, victims of male power, biology and social pressure.
I had many eye rolling moments, it was all just too silly and contrived to be convincing.. Not for me.
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