Mietta's Father

Do you think the author weakened the ending by who Mietta's father turned out to be? If the father and been the other person, would it have made Patrick's decision weightier?

I do feel that by letting us know the birth father, the author added an unexpected twist to the story. However, there could have been more written as to how he and his finance planned to interact with the child and Neva and Patrick in the future. Perhaps good stories often leave us to wonder about certain outcomes and this was a "page turner" for the last few chapters.

I was a little surprised but the author had given us a hint by introducing Mark earlier in the book. At the time i wondered about his role. Neva was a bit loose in relationships, but her grandmother had been attracted to a man who turned out to be a louse. This ending was another view of the dangers of hiding secrets.

I think it was more of a surprise to me that Mark wanted to be such a large part of the baby's life. Is that usual in this sort of circumstance, do you think?

Yes, I too was surprised by Mark's wanting to be involved. I think it was easier for Patrick to accept a stranger as a father than it would have been had the father turned out to be a friend of his - especially someone who was married.

I was very surprised (and happy) to finally discover the true identity of Mietta’s biological father. This one element in the book of not knowing the identity of Neva’s resulting pregnancy kept me intrigued throughout. I love a good mystery and while this was a “different” kind of mystery than the norm, I found myself turning pages whenever a candidate for the dad appeared. That Mietta’s father turned out to be a minor character in the book was a pleasant surprise. It made me ask myself if I should be paying more attention to minor characters (in the future) and not focus so much on the obvious.

I think the author chose the easy way out. Because she picked a minor character, the ending was easier to wrap up as a happy ending. I thought it was all too contrived and actually felt cheated by not creating a more realistic scenario.

I was glad the baby wasn't Sean's. Although they made a terrible choice, I'm relieved they didn't have to deal with permanent repercussions. I was also glad the cycle of harboring secrets seemed to end with Neva's decision to tell Mark as well as Patrick and her family.

I think that having Mark as the father changed the feel of the book. I just thought that Neva wouldn't have kept the pregnancy from Mark. It made sense that she wouldn't tell Sean because he was married and that his wife was ill, but there wasn't any reason not to tell Mark. She seemed like a person that would tell even though they weren't romantically involved. I also didn't think Neva was the kind of gal that would be having sex so frivolously. (not making a judgement here, just she seemed that she was more into having a relationship first type of person) I like that she told him in the end and was willing to share Mietta, but it didn't seem to go along with the rest of the book.

I was glad to hear that it was Mark and that he wanted to be involved, although I do think he kind of pushed in on his fiancee by having her hold the baby that first day. At least he was honest with her! I like Neva but it did bother me that she had multiple one-night stands, apparently close together time wise. It also bothered me that it was due to alcohol consumption each time.

Well the identity of Mietta's father was a real surprise to me but having Sean as the father would have been a real nightmare for all concerned. Thus I was glad that it was not he and also glad for Neva's honesty in telling Mark that he was the father of her baby. Since I was rooting for Patrick to stay with Neva, I was pleased with his decision because I prefer happy endings!!

I think that Mark's and his fiancee's plans to be a big part of the baby's life was a quick way for the writer to finish the story with some warm fuzzies—unnecessary in my opinion—just too connived.

While, as I said in another thread, I was not surprised that Mark was the father, I was a bit taken aback that Neva was so amenable to naming the baby after Mark's mother. As the definition of family continues to evolve, it wasn't so farfetched to have Mark want to take an active part in Mietta's life (if indeed he does as time goes on), but somewhat contrived that his fiancee seemed also willing to do so.