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Published Jul 2018
288 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Acclaimed author Jennifer Gilmore's intimate and achingly beautiful novel deftly explores the role that chance and choice play in shaping the lives of two teenagers who are separated by sixteen years, but whose lives are intertwined.
BEFORE: When Bridget imagined her life at sixteen, it didn't look like this. She didn't think that her boyfriend would dump her for another girl. And she certainly didn't think that she would be pregnant.
With just a few months until she gives birth, Bridget must envision an entirely new future - one for her baby. But as she sifts through the many paths and the many people who want to parent her child, she can't help but feel that there is no right decision.
AFTER: Ivy doesn't know much about her birth mother. She knows that she is now the same age Bridget was when she placed Ivy for adoption. She knows that Bridget was the one who named her. And she knows that fifteen years ago Bridget disappeared from Ivy's and her adoptive moms' lives.
Ivy wants to discover more about herself, but as she goes to find Bridget, she can't help but feel that the risks might far outweigh the benefits of knowing where she comes from and why her birth mother chose to walk away.
"Starred Review. Gilmore's gritty multigenerational tale not only seeks to ask adoption's toughest questions, but dares to offer no easy answers: Not to be missed." - Kirkus
"Despite its literary shortcomings, this title would be a good addition to YA collections." - School Library Journal
"Gilmore explores different aspects of adoption deftly and with empathy. The novel ends on a cliff-hanger, but one that emphasizes the two girls' realistic, deeply personal journeys rather than the destinations. Grades 9-12." - Booklist
"Sandwiched between Ivy's quest to find Bridget and Bridget's ordeal interviewing prospective parents, chapters show what might have happened if Ivy had been adopted by different couples or raised by her biological mother. Although the alternate possibilities may initially cause some confusion, ideas regarding the butterfly effect ('My life exists because of a swish of that butterfly's wing,' Ivy speculates. 'I could be anywhere. I could be anyone. Am I the best me possible?') will likely inspire readers to stretch their imaginations." - Publishers Weekly
"This emotional, visceral novel haunted me in the best ways. Jennifer Gilmore has written something of real depth, which will leave readers thinking for a long time about the lives that other people lead, as well as the ones they might have led. If Only is gripping and shiveringly beautiful; a true achievement." - Meg Wolitzer, bestselling author of The Interestings and Belzhar
This information about If Only was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jennifer Gilmore is the author is the author of If Only and We Were Never Here as well as three novels for adults: The Mothers, Something Red, and Golden Country (a New York Times Notable Book, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award). She teaches writing and literature at Harvard University. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and son. Visit her at www.jennifergilmore.net.
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