When Mel’s boyfriend dumps her weeks before she is due to give birth, she’s not just coping with heartbreak – she’s also facing parenthood alone. What does she know about bringing up a baby solo? And who’s going to be there for her if it all goes wrong?
Newly single Mel is terrified when she walks through the door of her first antenatal class. Meeting all the other mums-to-be, she’s convinced she’s the only one who doesn’t know what she’s doing.
But as she gets to know the other parents in the group, she realises she’s not the only one with a not-so-perfect life and a non-existent birth plan.
As the weeks pass, and the group share their fears about babies, breastfeeding and birthing pools, Mel begins to believe that maybe she can make it as a single mother. But just when she thinks she’s got a handle on her life, her ex-boyfriend comes back begging for forgiveness.
Leaning on the support of her new friends, and as the due date looms, Mel has a big decision to make. Will she choose to forgive her ex and or can she find the courage to go it alone?
Review
Today I am taking a break from my usual dark thrillers to bring you my review of this delightful, masterfully narrated story about friendship and motherhood.
I am currently in an antenatal group. I don’t know if we will end up being life-long friends but I love the fact that we are in the same journey. Most of us are first time moms with very similar experiences and concerns. It’s just nice to know that you aren’t alone.
Amy Miller’s Antenatal Group is so wonderful and realistically portrayed. I love the fact that each character has a different back story. We had married ladies, pregnant girlfriends and even the single moms by choice. I loved all their differences because this is exactly something that you’d find in a real-life antenatal group.
The character development was so well done. Each of the women felt like people I could be friends with. I loved Mel and her quirkiness. I also like the fact that she provided so many laughs in the story but also helped us delve into complexities of relationships. I also really liked Erin and Lexi. Due to their ages, I could kinda relate with them more. Katy broke my heart a couple of times but I loved her. Rebecca was another character who I could sympathize with. These women found their way into my heart and I love that each of them had something that I could identify with.
This was an entertaining read but I love the fact that it was informative too. It made me think about giving birth and the entire delivery process. It also helped me get over the idea of a perfect birth plan. I have had this idea that I will be this proper lady who will endure labor pains without making a sound or even having any facial expressions then I’ll push and voila…my baby will be here. Now I know better. Things don’t always go as planned and it seems you can’t really foretell how everything will go. It caught me off guard when one of the characters had her water break in a bus… yeah, in a bus. All the delivery stories had an impact on me. I was so anxious for each of the moms yet very excited for them too.
This book made me smile, laugh, cry and think about motherhood. Some of the ladies’ experiences had me giggling because they were so relatable. I kept saying out loud, ‘yeah, that happens to me too’. There were number emotional scenes too, both sad and happy ones. I also enjoyed the range of themes from friendship to motherhood to postpartum depression. The Antenatal Group by Amy Miller is a wonderful, powerful, well-written book with characters who most women (and men too) will identify with.
A Haven for Book Lovers 