Last Best Chance by Australian author Brooke Dunnell is a fiction novel full of hopes, dreams, and motherhood.
Rachel Mathers has always longed to be a mother, her marriage to Ben was over and now in her forties, she has not given up hope. She had first visited a clinic when she was thirty-eight but financially it was not the right time. Now with her intentions of being a single parent, she found a fertility clinic in south central Europe for an embryo transfer.
Embellishing the origin of her story to family and friends she sets out on her much-needed holiday. If the procedure worked and she came home pregnant she would tell everyone she met a local man whom she had spent the night with but had no way of contacting him.
Jess Neave is an expat who lives with her partner in Old Town, fifteen thousand kilometres away in the northern hemisphere. Since moving to another country to live with Viktor, it has been hard to make ends meet. Viktor works odd jobs while Jess teaches English to the locals and bartends at a hotel that hosts patients for one of the IVF clinics. Dunnell has crafted a story on the journey to motherhood, taking readers into Rachel’s process of IVF conception.
Book review by Beauty and Lace Club member Melissa T
Last Best Chance has a slow, even tone that goes throughout the book. It is the story of two women, Rachel and Jess. Rachel finds herself in her mid-thirties with no relationship and decides she wants a child. This is not easy and she decides to go to a foreign country for assistance.
Jess has found love a world away and is dealing with a small European country, with different customs and ways of life. She wants to expand her journalistic skills with a big technology expo coming. The timing of these intersects a little, but otherwise just seem to be at the same time and don’t need to be together.
Rachel has a big journey with trying to get pregnant and all the program entails. She has to negotiate the different ways things are done and being so far from home on her own. This is probably more emotional than it was made out to be. I was anxious to know how it ended up and how Rachel felt about this.
I felt this could have been explored a bit more with another chapter at a later time. Jess seemed to cope well with her different circumstances and how such a different country worked. She may not have agreed with everything but blended in with everyone else fairly well.
I liked the journeys these two women went on, but did want to know a bit more and have more ups and downs. It was a different style of book and writing which would be very interesting, especially to those going through fertility issues.
Book review by Beauty and Lace Club member Tara N
Want to read more reviews of this book? A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club members are reading Last Best Chance by Brooke Dunnell. You can read their comments below or add your own review.
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This book tells the parallel stories of two women, both of whom are making a decision about having a baby. Rachel lives in England; Jess is an expat in an unnamed European country.
Rachel has decided to have a baby as a single mother, though her motivation is questionable. She knows it will be her last chance, rather than feeling a deep need. She navigates the protocols and processes in an unnamed, less affluent, European country which offers a range of solutions to infertility.
Jess lives with her partner in that country and has decided that since the world is facing environmental disaster, she has no desire to bring a child into such a future. Her main focus is earning enough to survive.
I loved the parallel stories, the contrasts and similarities between the two women. The setting of the town is beautifully described and I could almost feel the cold and see the unrelenting greyness of the city. The fact that such a country was in a position to both bend rules and enact new, pointless laws was fascinating.
The author shows a detailed insight into the processes of IVF, donor eggs, surrogacy and embryo transfer. I really enjoyed this book; the characters were well drawn, the setting was highly evocative and the narrative moved at a good pace. I liked that loose threads were left at the end because – that’s life!
Thanks to Fremantle Press and Beauty & Lace for the opportunity to review this most enjoyable book.
Rachel and Jess. Two very different women but both with missions which would change their lives. Rachel to have a child and Jess who doesn’t want to bring a child into this uncertain environment.
Rachel makes the decision to go to a fertility clinic in a European country. While I followed both journeys I did struggle that something may have been missing in the story.
A light read!
Last Best Chance by Brooke Dunnell,
I like reading this compelling story of the pressures of having children especially when the body clock is ticking. Rachel has just gone through a broken marriage, and really wants to have a child. So she decides to travel overseas, to a clinic in Central Europe, to try her luck at conceiving.
Here she meets up with victor and Jess who will help with the journey of conceiving and finally falling pregnant or do they .
I found the book a great read for anyone who is going through the same phase as Rachel which is a hard decision and a very stressful part of life especially if your on your own and time is running out to conceive but desperately want a family .
Thanks beauty and lace I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
Brooke Dunnell explores the concept of female infertility beautifully in her novel, Last Best Chance.
Rachel Mather, is one side of the parallel story presented to the reader. She is at an age where she is contemplating all things fertility; IVF, embryo transfer, ovulation induction injections…….she possesses the financial means to go solo on this journey and undertakes travel to a desolate European country to fulfil her desires.
Dunnell describes eloquently the despair and turmoil faced by women in this predicament.
A chance encounter with Jess and her partner Viktor could be a blessing for Rachel. Jess, the other side of this story presented by Dunnell, is unhindered by a ticking biological clock, though in somewhat desperate economic circumstances. Fate, it seems, has brought them together.
I enjoyed this book and thank the publishers for the opportunity to read and congratulations to Brooke Dunnell for opening my eyes to this dilemma.