Somewhere Out There by Amy Hatvany

Title: Somewhere Out There
Author: Amy Hatvany

Read by: Cassandra Campbell, Rebekkah Ross, Candace Thaxton

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 13 minutes
Source: Simon & Schuster Audio Digital Review Copy – Thank-you!

Somewhere Out There is a gripping family drama.  In the early 1980’s, young single mother, Jennifer Walker makes a series of bad choices that led to her imprisonment and signing away the rights to her two young daughters, Natalie and Brooke.

Thirty-five years later, Natalie Clark is a burdening entrepreneur with her own baking business, a supportive husband, and two small children.  Although she loved her adoptive parents, she always wished she knew more about her biological mother.  Her adoptive mother passes on the information she had, and the fact that Natalie had a sister who was four years old when Natalie was adopted as an infant.  Natalie is determined to find the whereabouts of her sister.

Brooke Walker has grown up in the foster care system and eventually in state institution.  Never adopted and always wondering why her mother gave her up, she has had problems forming relationships.  She is a successful waitress, but when she finds out she is pregnant with her boyfriend’s baby, she has to determine what to do.  Can she keep the baby and be a good mother?  Does she have the parenting skills that her own mother lacked?

Somewhere Out There audiobook was set up fantastically with three narrators to each read the three point of views of the novel, Jennifer, Natalie, and Brooke.  I loved how each woman had their own point of view and story and also that the audiobook furthered that by having a unique voice.  I thought the story was very good and it kept me very interested on my daily commute.  I especially like that it all wasn’t fairy gold and dust, it seemed realistic of how things could turn out in such a situation.  I also loved how it explored themes such as how are our personalities shaped by how we are raised versus our genetics, and also how people can change and work to become a better person.

The book also explored what it is to be a good mother.  Is every woman cut out to be a good mother?  Can you be a good mother without a good mother of your own?  Does your mother have to be your biological mother?

Overall, Somewhere Out There was an absorbing family drama with great characters and a riveting storyline.  It was a good look at what it takes to be a mother and the choice that we all make.  It would make a great book club book.