Author: Amanda Ortlepp
ISBN: 9781925030600
RRP: $29.99
Claiming Noah is a confronting book that is going to be hard reading for some. I found it to be touching and terrifying, heartbreaking and compassionate. This is one that I feel will touch a nerve of every parent but I don’t think every parent would be able to read it.
Conception has become a very advanced science. It has been a long road to get to where we are today with IVF being a common tool to conception, if not a cheap one. We have come so far that infertile couples have another avenue open to them in that they can utilise embryo donation to become parents.
Ortlepp has taken this astounding science and applied it to a cast of characters that go from heartache to heartache in Claiming Noah, a gripping novel that will leave you with no choice but to question the what ifs and put yourself in their situation.
Catriona and James are desperate for children but the old fashioned method just wasn’t working for them so they embarked on the long and complicated process of IVF. With one embryo remaining they decide that regardless of the outcome of their third implantation they won’t be using it. After exploring their options, albeit briefly, they decide embryo donation is the only option for them; they understand the heartache of not being able to conceive naturally and want to try to ease that pain for another couple.
Diana and Liam are on the waiting list for an embryo after exploring their options and deciding they want the experience of pregnancy and childbirth. Quite quickly an embryo comes up and after expecting a lengthy wait they are thrilled. The fertility doctor likes to try and match embryos to prospective parents as closely as possible, he thinks it increases the chances of the embryo taking and it will certainly make life easier later in life for the child.
Catriona and James had a successful, though difficult, pregnancy and gave birth to Sebastian via emergency c-section after a labour that would be memorable for all the wrong reasons. Catriona suffered post natal depression that then escalated to psychosis and was hospitalised for the protection of both her and Sebastian.
Meanwhile Diana and Liam have also had a little baby boy, Noah, who is everything they could have imagined and he shares many physical traits with both Diana and Liam. At two months old Diana and Liam are faced with the unthinkable when Noah is kidnapped.
This book is definitely one that tugs the heart strings but there is also quite an element of mystery that helped keep me reading long after I should have been doing something else.
The characters are all well written and deeply flawed, not irredeemable by any means but very human and relatable. Claiming Noah is written from the perspective of both Diana and Catriona so we can really get inside their heads and understand what is driving them. The fathers in the story also play extremely important roles but because they aren’t telling the story we can’t completely understand their motivations.
I don’t want to go too deeply into the storyline because I don’t want to risk jading the experience for anyone who goes on to read this. I think it’s important to go into this one without too many preconceived ideas.
The story follows Catriona and Diana in alternating chapters, told in the third person and each chapter is dated so that we can follow the timeline of what’s going on with both families but there is a lot of overlap so quite often the beginning of a new chapter takes you back in time to look at the other woman’s life.
Beautifully written and beautifully paced Amanda Ortlepp has created a stunning debut that will leave you questioning your parenthood beliefs and deeply contemplating all the shades of grey. I love this book and think Ortlepp has done a fantastic job of coming up with a very unique storyline, it is certainly something I haven’t read before.
I would definitely recommend this book, to all parents present and future though perhaps not those looking into embryo donation in the near future. Ortlepp explored so many interesting aspects of people, relationships and perspectives. Situations aren’t always what they seem and some people are extremely good at showing themselves in the best light – which sometimes means they are far from who they claim to be.
A selection of our lucky readers will be reading Claiming Noah as part of the Beauty and Lace Book Club so I will be interested to see what they have to say about the book.
Please be advised that there may be spoilers contained in the comments below.
You can follow Amanda on Twitter.
Claiming Noah is Book #10 for the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 2015.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
Having witnessed couples using IVF treatment for several months before success and the stress it caused I can relate to parts of this.
Post Natal Depression is also a huge problem, an escalation of hormone triggers, being sleep deprived and very little time to do what they had always loved to do to unwind was just too much for the new Mums to cope with. It reveals that if you need help, you use it.
I would love to review this book after I have gained a better insight of the true severity of the situations
Another brilliant review from Michelle – wonderfully written and able to give thinking time for those of us fortunate enough to be able to apply for a copy to review. As always, Michelle’s review is detailed enough to give the potential reader enough information without spoiling anything in the novel. We are really fortunate to have Michelle’s incredible skill with reviewing which gives us a realistic option of deciding whether this and other great books will be for us, or whether we should leave the book for someone else.
Thanks, Michelle and Beauty and Lace – your thoughts are appreciated.
As someone that didn’t have to go through any IFVs to have babies, I can’t imagine how people deal with this in their lives to actually have a baby of their own. The only hard time I found falling pregnant was having a miscarriage on my first baby.
I’ve had friends go down the IVF programme and they have dealt with it all.
Your exceptional writing of the book Michelle makes me want to know more about this actual book. I have heard about this book on some tv show and it seemed intriguing then.
I would love the opportunity to review this book, I have many friends who have been through IVF and applaud those brace enought to do it and also those who donate eggs. I feel I would be able to give an objective review of this book and look forward to hearing if I will be apart of this panel.
I would love to read this story as after the brief introduction it has sparked my interest in wanting to know how couples deal with these situations and the mental strain they must go through. How do they cope making these decisions which affect their life? To read and open my mind.
I would be very interested to review this book. I have had some dear friends that have gone through the IVF process, with all their ups and downs, expenditure and intense emotional rollercoaster – I would be most interested to review this book and give my honest opinion as to its content and how much I felt the author portrayed the characters
Claiming Noad was beautifully written, Catriona and Diana went throught so much to have their babies as many women do, I was lucky enought to conceive naturally thank goodness and suffered no post natal depression, I sort of guessed at the end of chapter 11 that James had kidnapped Diana’s baby but had no idea that Sebastian had died from sids, this book raised some very points on moral and legal issues that arise with ivf programs was a beautiful ending after the traumatic court case seeing the mothers getting on and was great to see Catriona have a baby was a suprise also was a lovely book to read Thanks
Claiming Noah. Normally I’m not a fast reader but this book was read in one day because I just couldn’t put it down! It’s set in Sydney and begins with Catriona and James and their struggles to become parentsby IVF. I could only imagine the trauma they felt and the elation finally having their own son. Meanwhile Diana and Liam struggling with fertlity issues also having success with the same proceedures and finally the birth of Noah. This book traces these couples where issues of post natal depression and heartbreaking loss effect these two families. There is saddness, blame, betrayal and deceit within the pages. I would challenge anyone who reads this to not feel emotion. It is touching and easy to understand the feelings of all the characters. I could say so much more but would give the plot away, this is a book which is well written, absorbing and you tend to put yourself in the place of the characters. II am now looking forward to more books by Amanda Ortlepp!
Thank you for being able to review Claiming Noah. It is a very poignant story and extremely well written. I had no idea how I would feel reading this, but to find that I am horrified at the decision’s made by some of the characters as well as finding that I am so curious and intrigued, thoroughly unsettled me. I found it most strange to wonder how James did what he did (right our of character) as well as how Liam reacted. How would I react to this situation? Hard to say, but I did think that perhaps I would expect James to react like Liam and vice versa. Once I discovered what had actually happened and I was only half way through the book, I thought, well what could happen now. But it made sense. Much applause to Diana, very courageous! Is this Amandas first book?? Really, great work! I look forward to seeing more, would make a great movie! Regards Katrina
Wow, what a gut wrenching read. I don’t think I could put this bok down. I am a mum of a beautiful 2 year old boy but my life began on a very different note. I suffered deeply from post natal depression so I feel the very pain of Catriona and I know the depths of darkness to which PND takes you. But knowing what I do now and coming out the other end and having this amazing little boy whom I created before me, to have to endure losing this very blessing in my life? utterly SOUL DESTROYING.
You cannot help but feel for both these women in this amazing story- for totally different reasons. Well done Amanda Ortlepp 🙂