Jane, Jill, and Katie are in a difficult situation. Jill is
pregnant and none of them know how to be a parent. Jill's
pregnancy is rocky as the father more or less takes off and
she does not have the easiest time of it. She knows she is
lucky she can lean on her two best friends. When baby Atlas
arrives, the three quickly learn how to balance caring for
the baby and babysitting between the three of them. Their
little system is working well until the baby's father comes
back into their lives and upsets the delicate balance the
three friends have maintained.
What does it take to be a mother? Which qualities make one a
child's real mother? These are the difficult questions
Laurie Frankel does not so much attempt to answer, but
rather to guide the reader through and let the reader decide
for themselves. The narrator, Janey, is a bit annoying as
she gives in to Jill's ridiculous demands and childish
actions much too easily. Katie could be a stronger character
as well. It is Janey who is the backbone of this unique
family. The situations dealt with by each of the characters
are emotional and trying to everyone, including the reader.
THE ATLAS OF LOVE will pull on heart strings that many
readers may not know could be pulled.
THE ATLAS OF LOVE will undoubtedly be frustrating for a
reader based solely on the situations faced by the
characters. The issue discussed isn't particularly easy to
find an answer to and the reader will have a hard time
rooting for a single character. The reader will find scenes
that are aggravating, sad, happy, loving, etc... Laurie
Frankel does a good job of evoking reactions from the
reader. THE ATLAS OF LOVE is a read for those who enjoy
touchy issues.
When Jill becomes both pregnant and single at the end of one
spring semester, she and her two closest friends plunge into
an experiment in tri-parenting, tri-schooling, and
trihabitating as grad students in Seattle. Naturally,
everything goes wrong, but in ways no one sees coming. Janey
Duncan narrates the adventure of this modern family with
hilarity and wisdom and shows how three lives are forever
changed by (un)cooperative parenting, literature, and a tiny
baby named Atlas who upends and uplifts their entire world.
In this sparkling and wise debut novel, Frankel’s
unforgettable heroines prove that home is simply where the
love is.
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