I have had Mine by Marlene Hauser waiting on my TBR pile for 18 months and so I’m delighted finally to review it as part of the blog tour organised by Anne Cater of Random Things Tours.

Published by Book Guild Publishing on 23rd May 2023, Mine is available for purchase here.

I’ve previously reviewed Marlene’s Off Island here and Geraniums here and I was thrilled to find myself quoted on the cover of Mine!

Mine

When is enough, enough?

High-powered Sophie Taylor thinks baby-making can happen on the fly. Managed alongside work, marriage, an MBA and travel, she decides to launch Project Bébé. Successful at everything, Sophie expects and always scores one hundred per cent. That is until the shocking failure of one fertility treatment after the next.

As the heart-breaking reality of infertility sinks in, Sophie owns up to another almost unspeakable loss and faces difficult decisions when she’s targeted as the love interest of a high-powered financier. Through a colleague, a mother of four, she learns that motherhood is not all it’s cracked up to be. Just as Sophie feels satisfied with the advantages of a childfree lifestyle, a fateful meeting changes everything…

Triumphant, joyous and full of hope, Mine is a captivating story about a less understood route to motherhood: the fertility option Sophie almost forgot.

My Review of Mine

Sophie has it all – doesn’t she?

Set in the recent past immediately before the turn of the last century when the internet was just taking off, Mine explores the chasm between advances in technology and of professional success and the personal, time immemorial desire for motherhood. I thought the balance between these two elements was intelligently and sensitively achieved by Marlene Hauser.

I have absolutely no interest in motherhood so I think it’s testament to the author’s craft that I was educated about the processes so many women endure to have that longed for baby, and indeed, after an initial indifference to her desire, by the end of Mine I felt invested in the outcomes for Sophie. I gained a thorough understanding of her desperation for a child, fully appreciating the impact that need has so that I felt reading Mine gave me a greater affinity with other women.

The technological elements concerning different fertility routes are authoritative and convincing and, as I have come to expect from Marlene Hauser’s writing, Mine is frequently beautifully crafted, with such evocative appeal to the senses that settings leap from the page. I did find the .com sections impersonal and frustrating because they didn’t seem to hold the deep humanity I’m familiar with in this author’s writing. It wasn’t until the very end of Mine that I understood the significance of this theme and how they had been presented. That immersion in work, financial gain and professional recognition can become an obsession to mask the true internal desires of so many. There’s a quietness, almost a spirituality, at the end of the narrative that accentuates this sensation, but you’ll have to read Mine for yourself to see what I mean! 

Given that the themes in Mine are both modern and traditional, I thought the structure of three parts was perfect, being reminiscent of a traditional three act play. There’s a universality here that means the book will endure and have relevance long after it’s published. 

Mine is an interesting and thoughtful book. It explores our humanity, our connections and the risks we are prepared to take when nature and biology take over our lives. I found it extremely thought provoking because it has made me reconsider what family is and how we achieve balance in our lives. I don’t think Mine is a book that will leave any reader unmoved or without an opinion.

About Marlene Hauser

Marlene Hauser is a professional writer based in Oxford, UK, where she lives with her husband and teenage son. She served as editor of the Writer’s New York City Source Book and originated the television film Under the Influence, going on to serve as Associate Producer and Technical Consultant. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University and has received numerous awards, including a residency at the Millay Arts Colony in Upstate New York.

For more information you can visit Marlene’s website or follow her on Twitter @mhauser_author, Facebook and Instagram.

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