By Maribeth Fischer
Grace Connelly has always longed to be the perfect mother to her three children, especially her youngest son Jack, who suffers from a mitochrondrial disease that is both extremely rare and always fatal. But someone in Grace’s life doesn’t think she’s so perfect after all. In fact, someone believes that Grace’s unending devotion to and advocacy for her sick child in combination with her extensive medical knowledge make her a potential criminal. The crime: Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy (MSBP).
Grace is outraged that anyone could accuse her of harming sweet little Jack. Soon, an investigation reveals that Grace lied about her recent affair with her first love. Her deception combined with the accusations against her could ultimately cost her both her marriage and her children.
Some reviews compared Ms. Fischer to Anita Shreve but to me, that seems like a real stretch. While the plot is slightly interesting, it almost feels as if the author randomly picked a controversial topic and then threw in a little drama from 9/11/01 to create a big ending; the whole thing just felt forced, and in a way, like a big cop out. The author’s frequent comparisons between MSBP and the Salem Witch Trials felt ridiculous and seemed to imply that MSBP is just a witch hunt dreamt up to punish loving mothers everywhere. While I do not doubt that some mothers have been falsely accused, there have been substantiated, well known cases of MSBP.
Grace Connelly has always longed to be the perfect mother to her three children, especially her youngest son Jack, who suffers from a mitochrondrial disease that is both extremely rare and always fatal. But someone in Grace’s life doesn’t think she’s so perfect after all. In fact, someone believes that Grace’s unending devotion to and advocacy for her sick child in combination with her extensive medical knowledge make her a potential criminal. The crime: Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy (MSBP).
Grace is outraged that anyone could accuse her of harming sweet little Jack. Soon, an investigation reveals that Grace lied about her recent affair with her first love. Her deception combined with the accusations against her could ultimately cost her both her marriage and her children.
Some reviews compared Ms. Fischer to Anita Shreve but to me, that seems like a real stretch. While the plot is slightly interesting, it almost feels as if the author randomly picked a controversial topic and then threw in a little drama from 9/11/01 to create a big ending; the whole thing just felt forced, and in a way, like a big cop out. The author’s frequent comparisons between MSBP and the Salem Witch Trials felt ridiculous and seemed to imply that MSBP is just a witch hunt dreamt up to punish loving mothers everywhere. While I do not doubt that some mothers have been falsely accused, there have been substantiated, well known cases of MSBP.
I also found Grace’s statement about parents vs. non-parents to be both ridiculous and offensive:
“…she understood then that the world really was divided into two kinds of people, and it wasn’t rich and poor or educated versus uneducated or black against white, but something so much simpler, so much more important: those who were parents and those who weren’t.”
As if this realization could solve all the problems of the world. Seriously? Certainly, not all non-parents like myself are evil, unsympathetic monsters. I can hardly think of a more untrue or unfair statement.
This was an extremely disappointing book, a total waste of both paper and time. Maybe I should try reading a real book instead of trash like this.
“…she understood then that the world really was divided into two kinds of people, and it wasn’t rich and poor or educated versus uneducated or black against white, but something so much simpler, so much more important: those who were parents and those who weren’t.”
As if this realization could solve all the problems of the world. Seriously? Certainly, not all non-parents like myself are evil, unsympathetic monsters. I can hardly think of a more untrue or unfair statement.
This was an extremely disappointing book, a total waste of both paper and time. Maybe I should try reading a real book instead of trash like this.
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