I couldn't put this book down and so I instantly recommended it to my book group - so much to discuss! If you love a book driven by interesting characters in unusual circumstances then this is the book for you. Here's my review...
Having been a big fan of Helen MacKinven’s debut novel, Talk of the Toun, I sat down with my copy of Buy Buy Baby with a sense of great expectation. The book’s cover is eye catching, and the blurb on the back is intriguing. It promised to be a ‘moving and funny story of life, loss and longing,’ and I’m relieved to say I wasn’t disappointed. MacKinven’s voice is more confident in this, her second novel. The book is a real page turner, and, as with MacKinven’s first novel, it’s the characters that drive the story forward and give it its appeal. Characters that are witty, charismatic, and, at times, dishonest, but above all are real. The characters in this book are alive, and you’ll go on wondering about them long after you put the book down.
Buy Buy Baby is told from the viewpoint of two women, Julia and Carol, who each give their own story in alternating chapters. The two women are very different: they come from different backgrounds, have different interests and live very different lives. But they both want the same thing. A baby. And they’ve reached the point of desperation. So when Dan comes along and offers them what they want they go to great lengths to get it.
The novel jumps in with Carol’s story, and we are immediately immersed in her world as she shares her fears, hopes and dreams with her dog, and with her journal. This choice of narration allows us to be inside her head, and see her most intimate thoughts. Carol is a sympathetic character, and I liked her from the offset. She lost her only child in an accident, and as the story progresses, we discover that it was more than just a car accident, and that somehow her ex-husband was involved. She is now alone. The loss of a child is a difficult topic to broach, but MacKinven tells this side of the story with a careful balance of sensitivity and realism, and the character’s sadness and despair is authentic and moving. Carol fills the enormous gap in her life with alcohol and bargains from e-bay. She desperately wants another baby to fill the void, but the chances of her having another child seem impossible. Her grief is beautifully portrayed by MacKinven, and I was drawn in and emotionally involved with Carol’s story throughout.
The second character in the book, Julia, is less sympathetic, and MacKinven takes a gamble in giving equal weight in the story to a character that is significantly less likeable. Julia is a driven, self-assured individual who has little time or thought for others. She has spent her life focusing on her career, but now her biological clock is ticking loudly. In the beginning, I found Julia unsympathetic, but as her past was revealed, I grew to love her. Choosing to wait to have a baby until later on in life is a topic that divides opinion in our society, and people can be quick to judge. What MacKinven cleverly does in this book is present us with a flawed character, one who is largely unlikable and easy to cast judgement upon, and then she builds sympathy for her, subtly transforming our opinion of her. As the book progresses, Julia’s past is slowly revealed, and we learn that her background is more complicated than first thought. We learn to like her, and by the end of the book we are rooting for her to get what she wants. MacKinven forces us to face our own prejudices, and I congratulate her on this.
My one fault with this book surrounds how MacKinven deals with the male characters. The men in this book feel less authentic than the women, and are portrayed throughout as the ‘bad guys’. They come across as two-dimensional stereotypes. Because the story and themes within the book are driven by Carol and Julia, this didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book, but I would have felt more comfortable if even one of the male characters had been more likable. Surely not all men lack compassion?
The book is set in and around Glasgow and the Scots dialect adds authenticity to the characters and gives a sense of the book’s setting. Born in Falkirk, MacKinven spent her childhood in Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire. Her writing is unpretentious and this honesty is transferred directly to her characters, and is the strength of her work. Her characters are flawed, and it’s these flaws that make them real. There is no fairytale ending to this book, which feels right. MacKinven has so carefully set up a real world that it would have been disappointing if there was a ‘happily ever after’ ending for both characters.
Having completed her MLitt in creative writing at Stirling University in 2012, MacKinven has gone on to publish two novels. This is her first with the relatively new independent publishing company, Cranachan, and I doubt it will be her last.
Buy Buy Baby explores themes of motherhood and childlessness. It is a story of loss and longing, but, above all, it is a story of hope. MacKinven touches on some of the more difficult issues surrounding pregnancy and motherhood, but she does so with a light brush stroke, successfully mixing the seriousness of the topics with humour. This gentle touch of humour doesn’t detract from, or undermine, the importance of the themes contained within the story. This book had me both laughing and crying, and I recommend it to anyone who knows what it’s like to watch a pregnant woman and wish it could be them. There are a lot of us out there.
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- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 September 2016
