Amazon.co.uk Review
To have a baby or not to have a baby, that is the question that's facing Jane Green's heroines in her fifth novel, Babyville. Julia, Maeve and Sam are pondering the pros and cons of procreation; the effect that it could have on their careers, partners and lives.
The novel opens with Julia, a successful TV producer, with her legs straight up in the air, encouraging her boyfriend Mark's sperm to reach their destination. Julia thinks she wants a baby to fill the huge gap that has suddenly appeared in her life. But Mark thinks:

We don't make love anymore. We make babies. And we're failing.
Maeve, who also works in TV, is adamant that she doesn't want a baby or a relationship; she's happy as a single, ambitious, career girl: "The togetherness. The cosiness. That coupledom that is pure anathema to me." But she finds herself pregnant after a one-night stand and finds that her preconceptions turn out to be misconceptions. And finally there is Sam; voluptuously, glowingly pregnant at the beginning of the book, but near the end screaming at her beloved partner Chris: "You haven't been stuck in all day with a screaming baby. You have absolutely no idea what it's like for me." Chris feels "neglected. Abandoned . Unwanted."
Babyville is played out in the present tense, with a staccato style delivery, with beats of humour between the emotional labour. The emotions may be powerful and universal, but the prose style may need a longer fermentation period.

RELEASE NOTES:

Left at the checkout at the far end of Tesco - on top of the pile of spare bags.

I found this book on the shelves in Tescos underneath the books for sale. I was actually looking for a Jane Green book, so I picked it up. Then I noticed it was a Bookcrossing book and wasn't sure what to do with it. Nobody in Tescos knew either so I brought it home with me and I am going to take it on holiday with me in 3 weeks time.

I read this book on holiday and left it in a hotel in Bodrum, Turkey during the second week in October.

RELEASE NOTES: