Other People's Children by R.J. Hoffmann (ARC Review)

Title: Other People’s Children
Author: R.J. Hoffmann
Type: Fiction
Genre: Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date published: April 6, 2021

A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Gail and Jon Durbin moved to the Chicago suburbs to set up house as soon as Gail got pregnant. But then she miscarried—once, twice, three times. Determined to expand their family, the Durbins turn to adoption. When several adoptions fall through, Gail’s desire for a child overwhelms her.

Carli is a pregnant teenager from a blue-collar town nearby, with dreams of going to college and getting out of her mother’s home. When she makes the gut-wrenching decision to give her baby up for adoption, she chooses the Durbins. But Carli’s mother, Marla, has other plans for her grandbaby.

In Other People’s Children, three mothers make excruciating choices to protect their families and their dreams—choices that put them at decided odds against one another. You will root for each one of them and wonder just how far you’d go in the same situation. This riveting debut is a thoughtful exploration of love and family, and a heart-pounding page-turner you’ll find impossible to put down.

⤖ My Review ⬻

R.J. Hoffmann’s Other People’s Children was not what I expected. Based on the cover and the synopsis, I expected a story similar to some of the family drama films that I’ve seen over the years.

But the characters in Other People’s Children pulled me into the story in ways that these drama films never managed to. I felt deeply–whether positively or negatively–for each character, either rooting for them or wishing them the worst, haha.

I won’t go into detail about the ways that this book surprised me because I can’t do so without giving important parts of the plot away. I want everyone to experience this book as I did, so I have to be vague. A few other things that I can say without spoiling anything though:

1) I imagined everything happening in this book playing out in my mind like a movie, 2) I thought the way in which the story was told from the perspective of different characters was well done, and 3) I can also say that I was left guessing for the majority of the book, unable to predict most of the the characters’ decisions and events that took place.

⤖ About the Author ⬻

R.J. Hoffmann was born and raised in St. Louis and received an MFA in fiction from Columbia College Chicago. Hoffmann’s writing has appeared in Barely South Review, The Sun, Harpur Palate, The Roanoke Review, Booth, The Baltimore Review, and Lunch Ticket. Hoffmann is the winner of the

Madison Review’s 2018 Chris O’Malley Prize in Fiction and a finalist for the Missouri Review’s 2019 Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize. He lives in Elmhurst, IL, with his wife and two children.