The Cradle Book Review

The Cradle
Author: Patrick Somerville
Pages: 224 pgs
Reading Level: Adult

My Stars: 4 stars

After a few pages, you realize there is a link psychologically to the past and future. The main character goes on a quest that brings out his past and his wish to understand why they gave him away and it connects him to another orphan. The book brings out the complex ties of family and the lack thereof, by enter twining past and present. The author makes you challenge the value of human life and makes you think of family and parenthood. Hints of connections through the story make it very hard to put the book down until the surprising out come.

Synopsis: In the summer of 1997, a newlywed couple, Matt and Marissa, are living in Wisconsin and expecting their first child. With the baby almost due, Marissa sends Matt on a quest to recover an antique cradle from her mother, who claimed it when she abandoned her family years earlier. Ten years later, a middle-aged couple, Bill and Renee, are living outside Chicago and preparing to see their only son, Adam, off to war in Iraq. Adam's departure brings to the surface deeply personal memories of Renee's first love, and forces the confession of a long-held secret that brings the two stories together in the novel's powerful climax. Elegant and surprising, THE CRADLE tells a story that is warm, wise, and full of wonder.