Which character made the biggest impression on you?

[[deleted user]]

[Linda]

The natural mother, Hannah. Even when she realizes her daughter is alive and wants desperately to be a mother to her there is a point when she is willing to
allow her daughter to remain in the care of Isabel who is the only mother the child knows. Love asks much of us. Unlike Isabel, who is selfish, manipulative, and deceptive at every turn to suit her own purpose, the natural mothers love is the deeper bond.

[Melissa]

I think you guys think Isbell is selfish because she is written straight...the author doesn't go into any history with Isbelle. The only glimpse of Isbelle is seen through other characters. So, you don't know how the miscarriages really affect her. When she give birth to the last baby and its like 7 months ...its Tom, who describes the baby and cleaning and burying it. Oh, so sad.

[Lucinda]

Hannah, the natural mother, because her feelings for the child and about the situation were complex. She understood Isabel's attachment to a degree and was willing to make sacrifices for her daughter's happiness. But I liked the fact that Stedman didn't make her into a "robbed saint" type. She said she couldn't "forgive," and she didn't. She simply looked at what was best for everyone involved, especially for her daughter.

[Melissa]

Oh, I know. I was rooting for Hannah to give the girl back because that scene in the fabric store broke my heart. But then, Lucy came around. The book was like a roller coaster because you were all happy when Isbella and Tom found each other and then everything comes crashing down and its like your stomach is your throat. Such a good book.

[Lucinda]

"Roller coaster" is a good way to describe it, Melissa. There's a point at which I realized that there can be no happy ending, even if I could plot everything that happened from there forward myself. But I thought Hannah best captured, in one character, the complex dynamics of the situation. The character development was great!

[Melissa]

I was also glad that Lucy kept her name..or part of it. You like to think as a parent, no matter what happens, there is an imprint of your love on your child's heart. Lucy didn't quite understand what was happening but she knew that she was more than just Hannah's child.

[Lucinda]

True. The "real" mother couldn't erase the imprint of Tom and Isabel's time with "Lucy." When she saw that, to me, that was loving her daughter as a whole person and not naively thinking she could just erase what had happened and start over.

[Tim The Enchanter]

Lucy made the biggest impression on me. Tom and Isabel were both selfish in their own way. I was less concerned about how the adults were feeling and far more concerned with how the child would cope.

[Michael]

Tom made the biggest impression on me. I felt that he wanted to do the 'right' thing but did not want to disappoint his wife in the process.

[Eileen]

Tom was a strong man. I still do not understand why he did not make a greater effort to get Isabel to understand how wrong what she wanted to do was.

But don't get me started. This book was so depressing, I don't think I could recommend it to anyone.

[Carol]

Hannah's sister Gwen knew almost instantly that Lucy truly belonged with Tom and Izzy because she could relate based on her past experience of losing her mother to what Lucy was going through. Gwen was able to see the whole picture for what it was. Yes, her sister was her biological mother and went through hell due to the loss of her husband and daughter only to find out she was alive. Gwen saw the pain in Tom and Izzy knowing what they did was wrong however; they are the only parents that Lucy knows. She truly saw the dynamics of the situation for what it was right or wrong from the adults it was about what was right for Lucy.

[[deleted user]]

Linda wrote: "The natural mother, Hannah. Even when she realizes her daughter is alive and wants desperately to be a mother to her there is a point when she is willing to
allow her daughter to remain in the care..."

I agree with Linda. Well said. It made a mother's love sound like it normally is: self-less love.