"A Ghost at Heart's Edge" is a rich tapestry of truth, beauty and pain, woven with heartfelt honesty. It offers rarely seen glimpses into all facets of adoption, not just the standard "joyous" reunions that are always more complex in real life than in TV drama. It should be required reading for anyone considering adoption. For those already adopted or who have adopted a child, it will ring with boldly familiar truth. I am pleased to be included in this groundbreaking work.

Susan Ito and Tina Cervin have skillfully compiled a beautiful meditation that challenges our most insidious assumptions of what it means to be a True Family. Required reading for anyone with a beating heart.

You don't need to be an adopted child or adoptive parent to love this collection. You need only to have been a child or a parent. This collection is about the strings that link us to the most important people in our lives. From the stories by Chitra Divakurni and Isabel Allende to the poetry by editors Susan Ito and Tina Cervin - what gems! This is a book that -"after the long drought and the barren silence" (from a poem by Edward Hirsch included in the collection) - embraces families of all ethnicities and walks of life to shine a literary light on what it means to be a parent, to be a child. I feel so lucky to have found it. Highly recommended.

After discovering "Dispatches From the Mother Ship" quite by accident (and loving it) I searched out any book by this author. I didn't expect a memoir that was so emotional and compelling. At times so desparate- but it has a hopeful ending.

I love the title of this book, a collection of Jacqueline Mitchard's newspaper columns, which are published every Sunday in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

She has had quite a life: adopted a child, then was able to have three children of her own. Her husband died, quite young and very quickly, of cancer. She then adopted another child, the story of which was very moving. She then re-married and adopted yet again. In addition to writing a weekly column, she has also written several best-selling novels.

I think her columns are very well done and usually strike a note that is familiar to my life or the life of someone I know. I actually like them more than her fiction. The columns are alternately nostalgic, funny, wry, sad, bittersweet. She is a very clever observer of family life and the things in our world which affect families.

Here are the titles of some of her columns/articles in this book:

*Loneliness of the Long-Distance Talker
*Dare to say "Underwear" - about ordering from Victoria's Secret catalog when a male order-taker answers the phone
*My Son the Warrior
*When You're Out with the In Crowd
*The Mother of My Child
*Tragedy in a Bottle
*My Best Buds, the Brontes
*The Citadel:Disgrace Under Pressure
*Home Cooking in the Drive-thru Lane
*Tupperware is Life
*The Great Green Garage Sale

I think almost anyone would enjoy reading these columns and highly recommend it.

I've never read Jacquelyn Mitchard's columns in newspapers, what I did read was her brilliant first novel "The Deep End of the Ocean". Then I opened this book, read "Better Scared Than Scarred" & I couldn't put it down. Jacqelyn Mitchard is a kindred spirit, someone with an ineffably wry, dry, poignant sense of humor. Who sees an outrage & decides to humor it; who has life catch at her throat & writes like her life depended on it, which it does. A must read for anyone who thinks their own life is drab! For my full review please go to: ( )

I am reading "The Rest of Us" now and can relate to so many of Ms. Mitchard's essays. She has a gift for immortalizing the precious little moments of motherhood that we tend to forget in the busyiness of our daily lives. She is the "Every Mother" of the '90's and I wish our newspaper carried her column. Some days I could really use her clear vision and wry humor.

This book is a rarity as far as I'm concerned... an easy read that doesn't insult your intelligence. Yes, it was sentimental and centered entirely on the relationships between the characters, but there isn't anything wrong with that! It's the best book I've read from this genre.

The trend of so many recent novels is to present you with main characters who are so flawed as to make them one-dimensional. Lately I've read too many books that I've been too irritated to finish because I couldn't find one character in the entire story I could relate to or root for. "The Most Wanted" gives you a whole slew of characters to choose from who are flawed enough to be real without compromising their integrity.

The reader will realize the impending marriage is doomed from the first page but this book is not about the relationship between Arly and Dillon. The point is to show how lives are changed at pivotal moments... how what other people may perceive as the biggest mistake of your life can actually be the force which irrevocably sets you on a path you would have never chosen for yourself... a path that enriches your life in ways you could have never imagined.

There are two kinds of books that make me read fast: A very good book that I can't put down and race through to see what happens; and a very bad book that I zip through just to get it over with. This book actually inspired me to read very slowly, savoring each word like a sip of good brandy. In spite of the controversial subject matter, there is an innocence and purity about this story. In fact, Arlington reminds me quite a bit of my own 15 year old daughter, who is both naive and hopelessly romantic and incredibly beautiful. I have given her this book to read, and look forward to hearing her opinion. If the reader can get past the their prejudices about adult/adolescent relationships (we somehow accept Romeo and Juliet who were just children!)then we can allow ourselves to feel the deep love between two very different people - a love that ultimately becomes destructive. Nor is the idea of a 14-year old girl falling in love with a hardened older guy at all incomprensible. It is probably the fantasy of many of our young teen daughters. Mitchard's ability to so accurately evoke the feelings of a young, budding girl/woman in the flush of first love is astounding. By the same token her rendering of Annie, a slightly cynical adult captivated by Arley, gives a wonderful contrast. The story weaves back and forth between Annie and Arley. And so, I found myself ready very slowly, losing myself in this emotionally charged story, in no rush to leave two women I had come to admire. I also find myself looking at my young daughter differently - I take her feelings much more seriously and realize that as young as she is, she is capable of deeper feelings that we adults would otherwise give credit to. Thank you, Jaqueline Mitchard, for a magical, tragic, but ultimately uplifting experience for this reader!

I really enjoyed More Than Wanted, it's only problem was that it started out kind of slow.It wouldn't have worked out right though if it had gone right into the plot.It did start out good though & continue that way. I liked the storyline a lot & this book was sentimental & poetic. It was a nice love story that showed what power love has over people. It is written in chapters seperately narrated by the 2 main characters. This was nice because you saw what was going on seperately in their life & their different takes on the situation. More Than Wanted had all the elements of a good novel: a little romance(not trashy), drama & a little insight into the characters interesting lives. It deserved 5 stars because I thought it was great & had trouble putting it down. You should go read it!!!

I have to be honest - this was the first Jacquelyn Mitchard I have read. I never read DEEP END OF THE OCEAN because the storyline was troubling to me, and by the time I decided I might want to give it a try, it was a movie, which ruined the book completely. So when I heard about THEORY back in April, I anxiously awaited and counted the days until its release. I knew Ms. Mitchard is a popular and, I heard, fantastic author and the advance reviews all predicted great reading with a heartwrming story. What book were those reviewers reading? The dialogue in this book is great and the second to last chapter really moves along with quick dialogue between two of the characters - but that's it. The first half of the book is nonstop descriptions - the car accident, the illness, the farm, the school, Gordon's teaching background - on and on and on it goes. It feels like you're reading an article in a woman's magazine about a local family's custody battle. Where's the story, where's the character development, where's the dialogue???? The few conversations that do take place are pointless - two in particular left me asking "HUH?" What was the point? (Ch. 13 - between Nora & Hayes and Ch. 15 between Gordon & Lindsay) Many of the conversations and dialogue between characters are pointless and lead to no where - some of the descriptions are also pointless and seem to have been written to just fill a page (what was the point of Nora's thought on the farm? It was never mentioned again and was never the topic of conversation or even an issue) This book could have been so much better if Ms. Mitchard had just written more interaction between characters and dialogue. The characters are often alone in a room with their thoughts and that's what you're reading - what is going on in the minds of the main characters. Not enough interaction or speaking to each other. The most important events are skimmed over too quickly leading to more reading about what the characters thought of what just happened. I would probably give Ms. Mitchard another chance based on her history and what other people have said about her writing - if the next book was about a subject I was interested in reading about that is. Hopefully, this was just a "slump" and the next book will be as good as her first.

This is a story of love for the family, and the sacrifices and heartaches that come with it.

A young couple died, leaving behind the 1-yr old baby girl. She was presumed to be taken care of by the maternal grandparents, only to be challenged by the other set of grandparents. It later focuses on the uncle, Gordon, who was made to fight for the adoption of baby Keefer, whom he felt like his own anyway. Legal turns took place and for all the struggles and fights, the bruises and triumphs, he came to realize that Keefer's interest was the most important thing.

It exemplifies how a baby can change people's lives - physically, mentally, and emotionally; and how a family stand together for each other.

This book made me feel for the characters - their sorrow, anger, gratitute, relief, happiness and everything in between. The details are the essence. It also made me see many aspects of adoption from inside.

Family stories can be too familiar sometimes, but the storyline of this book is compelling and captivating. The author's play with words is interesting too, I couldn't help enjoying the read.

As an adoptive mother, I've always felt a special connection to Jacquelyn Mitchard's work, reading everything I can about her adventures as both a writer and an adoptive parent. I was particularly eager to read this one when I heard it was based in part on Mitchard's personal experience facing the possible loss of one of her adopted children - even though this child, an infant girl, was already living hin her home and even though Mitchard was permanently and indelibly bonded with this girl. This struck close to the bone, echoing some of my own concerns and fears as an adoptive mother. While I wasn't crazy about Mitchard's previous novel (The Most Wanted), A Theory of Relativity shows that she is back in top form. When a couple dies in a car accident, Gordon (brother to the deceased wife) comes forth to adopt the surviving child, a one year old girl. Unfortunately, other family members feel differently and a custody battle ensues. While Gordon and his parents want to be the child's parents, the parents of the deceased husband want custody as well. I was intrigued not only by the suspenseful plot but by the questions this book raised: What are the limits we, as a society, place on "blood" ties and those formed by adoption? Why are adopted children not always considered equal to those who are genetically related to their parents? How and why can families be torn apart by these distinctions?I found this to be a very believable story and couldn't help feeling that Mitchard's personal experiences brought a special ring of truth to this book. I'm looking forward to more powerful, emotionally honest novels from this wonderful writer in the future!

After seeing the movie, I thought that this book would have been addicting. IT WASN'T! I really thought that the main plot of the book was well thought out but the over use of metaphors and the awful characterization made the book really hard to read. You almost start hating Beth right from the beginning when she says, "she only likes the baby." How could you possibly say that when your other two children are in listening distance? Then, when Ben is kidnapped, you are expected be sorry for her. Based on her first conversation, wouldn't you think that she would be happy? I do think that the author captured some of the feelings a mother must feel after such a horrible thing can happen to her but when the author creates such an easily hated character you don't really care about how she feels. I really felt sorry for the rest of her family whom she pushed away throughout the whole situation and I wish that thier feelings could have been brought out more in this book. I believe that the youngest boy must have had the toughest time because he had blamed himself for so many years. He will most likely have mental and social problems his whole life because of this. Why didn't his parents ever think of getting him counseling? They seemed to be to caught up in themselves to even consider this. Overall, I enjoyed the suspense of this book but I found it really hard to get through. It was really slow and I think that much of it could have been cut out. The author has a lot of talent but I just couldn't get over my dislike of the main character. I think that this really affected my attitude while reading this book and could account for my dislike of it. In general, this book did not meet my high expectations.

Initial reviews of "Deep End of the Ocean" lavishly praised the provocative situation - a child abduction - and the entire family's subsequent nightmare of not knowing what had become of their child. Over time, the family literally comes apart, slowly, inexorably. I found the shifts in point- of-view disconcerting - from Beth the angry, guiltridden, nearly catatonic, bereaved(?) mother to Sam the workaholic father, to Vincent, the sullen teenager brother, and back. The opening sequence with Beth's panic-stricken anguish is riveting. The book, however, drags after the opening scenes and the family drifts into lethargy and dissolution. It's amazing the father holds his side of the family together and continues to support Beth. The son Vicent could be any teenager but with a more significant reason for his angst. The younger daughter is undeveloped. Perhaps, from a man's viewpoint, I was disappointed that the "spin" near the end of the book didn't live up to expectations. It's truthful in revealing that men handle tragedy, no less deeply, but differently then women. I too, slowly devoured this book, partially because after the opening highlight, it moves so slowly forward. I will give "Deep End" credit: it is more of a character study of an American family in crisis than a suspense thriller with a tidy ending. Mitchard has not opted for easy answers or easy characters and it's this feature that encourages thoughtful discussion.

I read this book to compare it to the movie that was just coming out, expecting to find the book a bit better than the movie. Well, I wouldn't be able to compare the two. I did not see the movie because I didn't want it to lower my opinion of the book. Jacquelyn Mitchard has an interesting and unusual style of writing, which I found to be a refreshing change from that of many other books. Mitchard's character Beth is especially different. Beth is a mother who blatently states her dislike of her own children and her own life, yet goes to her high school reunion where her life is torn apart by the kidnapping of her youngest son, Ben. I did not feel that she deserved pity for what her life had become; instead, my heart went out to Vincent, or Reese, whose entire existence was changed (for better? for worse?) by the disapearance of his younger brother, which he feels inside that he is truly responsible for. Jacquelyn Mitchard has shown an extrordinary writing style and descriptive ability, along with wonderfula characters, which is what makes this such a touching book.

The Deep End of the Ocean and The Most Wanted were two of the most creative, and well-written "popular" books, I have read. The creative process was flowing, and I had the feeling that these characters were so real, that Mitchard, herself, didn't know how the book would end until it was done. I think she was a pioneer in (once more, I'm using quotaion marks) "popular" literary fiction. A Theory of Relativity was disappointing. All writers, I suspect, have a book that is out-of-sync. However, with Twelve Times Blessed, this indicates a pattern. The characters were uninteresting; the plot pedestrian. Mitchard's narrative is excellent, and she can do this for $$$... All I can add, is I hope Mitchard regains her voice, and does not serve us any more pap.

Don't take this book seriously, just enjoy the ride.
The main character is egotistic and the drama is predictable, but admit it, its a beach book.
I wish the author had hired an editor - I would have been glad to trim it up a bit, and there are some serious inconsistencies that should have been caught.
But really, if you want a fat juicy novel to take to the pool, this is fine.

Forty-three and feeling as ancient as Methuselah, True Dickinson has bravely put on a happy face for her birthday celebration, but is inwardly throwing a middle-aged fit: Her pants are too tight, her butt is too big, and her hair is rapidly going to gray. Youth and beauty are slipping away, adding poundage to her hips, thighs and waist, taunts the voice of insecurity.

A widow for eight years, True has learned to live with the empty, needy nights, and the hole in her heart (which her late husband never completely filled). Her ten-year old son, Guy, and her thriving mail-order business are delightful distractions, however, and fill her days with pleasant chaos. True's relationship with her mother, Kathleen, is less idyllic and fraught with tension, so the support of her close cluster of friends is a blessing. Franny, Rudy, and Isabelle are True's lifelines and links to sanity, making a snowy night on Cape Cod sparkle with warmth and laughter.

True's life takes a drastic turn that very night, in fact. A game of darts with a younger man leads to an unexpected attraction, and a year of bliss, heartbreak and daunting change. Hank Bannister is a thirty-something restaurateur whose magnetism and blunt speech take True by surprise. Their relationship progresses at an unnerving, unstoppable, dizzying rate, leaving debris in their wake -- and the looming promise of peril in their future...

A year in the life of Jacquelyn Mitchard's forty-something heroine is graced with a bounty of blessings, and cursed with the heartbreaking necessity of letting go, giving in, or moving on. Emotional plateaus peak -- and then plummet -- spectacularly in Twelve Times Blessed, forcing readers to endure the agonies and the ecstasies of True and Hank's conflict-ridden relationship, the push and pull of which is almost as physically punishing as a down-and-dirty, take-no-prisoners tug of war.

Needless to say, this weighty, protracted novel about family, love, and personal crises isn't light reading fare, despite its many clichés and predictable plotline. Ms. Mitchard's protagonists bring out the worst in each other, argue incessantly, and test a reader's tolerance for such immature posturing. While True is intent on self-sabotage, you see, Hank is intent on meeting his own needs first like a spoiled, selfish child. Even when their relationship is on an even keel, it's a shallow parody of which it should be, and I struggled to feel something -- anything -- for either character (beyond pity, frustration, or disgust, that is).

It takes nearly five hundred pages, however, to work this particular miracle. By then, it doesn't matter how ill suited or mismatched True and Hank's temperaments are, or how tenuous the storyline's resolution is. Having toiled through every crisis, and patiently waited for the plot's discord to dissipate, it's a relief to finally reach that blessed, pivotal moment. Thus, readers will emerge from the pages of Twelve Times Blessed battle-scarred, but joyous -- and wiser for the experience.

Reviewed by C.L. Jeffries