Baby Proof
Emily Giffin, 2006
St. Martin's Press
368 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780312348656
Summary
From the author of the smash hits Something Borrowed and Something Blue comes a novel that explores the question: is there ever a deal-breaker when it comes to true love?
First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes...a baby carriage? Isn’t that what all women want?
Not so for Claudia Parr. And just as she gives up on finding a man who feels the same way, she meets warm, wonderful Ben. Things seem too good to be true when they fall in love and agree to buck tradition with a satisfying, child-free marriage. Then the unexpected occurs: one of them has a change of heart. One of them wants children after all.
This is the witty, heartfelt story about what happens to the perfect couple when they suddenly want different things. It’s about feeling that your life is set and then realizing that nothing is as you thought it was—and that there is no possible compromise. It’s about deciding what is most important in life, and taking chances to get it. But most of all, it’s about the things we will do—and won’t do—for love. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—March 20, 1979
• Where—Baltimore, Maryland, USA
• Raised—Naperville, Illinois
• Education—B.A., Wake Forest University; J.D., University of Virginia
• Currenbtly—lives in Atlanta, Georgia
Emily Giffin is the bestselling American author of eight novels commonly categorized as "chick lit." More specifically, Giffin writes stories about relationships and the full array of emotions experienced within them.
Giffin earned her undergraduate degree at Wake Forest University, where she also served as manager of the basketball team, the Demon Deacons. She then attended law school at the University of Virginia. After graduating in 1997, she moved to Manhattan and worked in the litigation department of Winston & Strawn. But Giffin soon determined to seriously pursue her writing.
In 2001, she moved to London and began writing full time. Her first young adult novel, Lily Holding True, was rejected by eight publishers, but Giffin was undaunted. She began a new novel, then titled Rolling the Dice, which became the bestselling novel Something Borrowed.
2002 was a big year for Emily Giffin. She married, found an agent, and signed a two-book deal with St. Martin's Press. While doing revisions on Something Borrowed, she found the inspiration for a sequel, Something Blue.
In 2003, Giffin and her husband left England for Atlanta, Georgia. A few months later, on New Year's Eve, she gave birth to identical twin boys, Edward and George.
Something Borrowed was released spring 2004. It received unanimously positive reviews and made the extended New York Times bestsellers list. Something Blue followed in 2005, and in 2006, her third, Baby Proof, made its debut. No new hardcover accompanied the paperback release of in 2007. Instead, Giffin spent the year finishing her fourth novel and enlarging her family. Her daughter, Harriet, was born May 24, 2007.
More novels:
2008 - Love the One You're With
2010 - Heart of the Matter
2012 - Where We Belong
2014 - The One & Only
2016 - First Comes Love
(Author bio adapted from Wikipedia.)
Visit the author's website.
Follow Emily on Twitter.
Book Reviews
[The characters are] funny and flawed, ambitious and insecure, relatable enough to feel like a good friend while enduring dramatic crises enough for a dozen women.
Elle
Giffin’s writing is true, smart, and heartfelt. Claudia is both flawed and achingly real.
Entertainment Weekly
Smart, snappy.... Sure to provoke discussion.
People
The bestselling author of Something Borrowed and Something Blue now tells the story of what happens after the "I dos". As a successful editor at a Manhattan publishing house, Claudia Parr counts herself fortunate to meet and marry Ben, a man who claims to be a nonbreeding career-firster like she is. The couple's early married years go smoothly, but then Ben's biological clock starts to tick. A baby's a deal breaker for Claudia, so she moves out and bunks with her college roommate Jess (a 35-year-old blonde goddess stuck in a series of dead-end relationships) while the wheels of divorce crank into action. Even after the divorce is finalized and Claudia embarks on a steamy love affair with her colleague Richard, she begins to doubt her decision when she suspects Ben has found a smart, young and beautiful woman willing to bear his children. Standard fare as far as chick lit goes, but there are strong subplots involving Claudia's sisters (one is coping with infertility, the other with a cheating spouse) and the childless-by-choice plot line produces above-average tension.
Publishers Weekly
In her third novel (after Something Borrowed and Something Blue), Giffin introduces the character of Claudia Parr, a 35-year-old New York City book editor who has never wanted children. Claudia gets along famously with her husband, Ben, until he changes his own stance on children and decides he wants one after all. At first, she chalks it up to a phase, but soon it becomes clear that the love of her life is choosing fatherhood over her. Devastated, Claudia files for divorce and moves back in with her best friend. To make matters worse, the women closest to Claudia—her two sisters and her best friend-either already have children or are trying to get pregnant. Claudia makes the most of her situation and starts dating an attractive coworker, steadfastly believing she was right to stand by her values. Until, that is, she realizes that being with Ben is what matters the most. A fast-paced and interesting look at the various ways women view motherhood and pregnancy, this is sure to be popular with Giffin's many fans. Recommended for all public libraries. —Karen Core, Detroit P.L.
Library Journal
By avoiding easy answers, Giffin once again proves she's one of the best chick-lit writers in this thoughtful, layered, and wholly original story of a woman facing a major choice in her life. —Kristine Huntley.
Bookist
Discussion Questions
1. Do you think that there is a stigma against women who do not become mothers? If so, how much more damning is it for a woman who chooses not to have children rather than one who is simply unable? Do you think women who don’t want children are judged more harshly than men who don’t want them?
2. Do you view Claudia as a selfish person? How much do you think she is defined by her decision not to have children? Was your first impression of her a favorable one? Did you draw conclusions about her character after the first sentence of the novel?
3. Do you think that most people would see a partner who doesn’t want children as a deal-breaker? Is this an issue that one can compromise on? Is there such thing as a deal-breaker when it comes to true love or does true love conquer all?
4. Do you believe in soul mates? If so, do you believe that soul mates, by definition, want the same things in life?
5. There is a statement in Baby Proof that reads: “The biggest decision a woman can make in life is not who to marry but who should be the father of her children.” Do you believe that, to most women, the issue of children and motherhood (and who to share that with) supersedes every other decision in their lives? Or do you think that women today wrestle with the decision to have children more than they would care to admit?
6. Do you feel it was fair and reasonable for Ben to back out of their agreement to not have children? Is this a realistic promise in the first place? How would this have been a different story if it had been Claudia who had changed her mind? Were you more frustrated with Ben for changing his mind about having children or with Claudia for being unyielding in her views?
7. Through the characters of Daphne, Maura, and Jess, Baby Proof examines ways in which motherhood impacts relationships and vice versa. How do these side stories relate to the central theme of Claudia's decision to be "childfree"? How do you think Claudia’s relationship with her own mother contributed to her feelings regarding having children?
8. There's a scene in the novel in which Claudia, Maura, Daphne, and Jess are having lunch, and Claudia observes: "But as I listen to the three women I love most, I can't help but think how crazy it is that we all want something that we can't seem to have. Something that someone else at the table has in spades." How does the issue of motherhood in Baby Proof tap into more universal themes of unexpected outcomes and unfulfilled desires? What do you think of Daphne and Tony’s request of Claudia? What do you think of Maura’s decision to stay with Scott?
9. Claudia’s disdain for Scott’s infidelity is evident in her comments about him. Her disapproval of Jess’s serial dating of married men seems more tempered, even though it could be said that without women like Jess, Scott would have no one to cheat on his wife with. Do you feel that our love for our friends frequently allows us to give them a pass for bad behavior? How often do you hide or minimize your true feelings in order to be supportive of a friend?
10. Discuss the ending of Baby Proof in relation to O. Henry’s classic tale “The Gift of the Magi.” Do you feel that the ending was satisfying? Do you think Claudia and Ben will go on to have children?
(Questions issued by publisher.)
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