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Wednesday, November 3, 2010

The Abortionist's Daughter by Elisabeth Hyde

The Abortionist's Daughter

I started off listening to the audio version, which I thought was excellent. But once I was just a short way to the end, I grabbed my paperback copy off my bookshelf and finished it.

I thought it was very good. Briefly, it's about the murder of a local doctor who runs an abortion clinic and the investigation. There's the mystery of who could have murdered her - the local Pro-Life minister? The husband? Someone else?

And then there are the issues that the daughter, Megan, must deal with - not only with losing her mother but forging a new kind of relationship with her father.

Maybe it's not the most complex mystery, but I don't think it's supposed to be. I think it's more a character study, dealing with obsessions, convictions, fears, and uncertainties that we all deal with at some point. And a woman whose marriage is flailing and whose relationship with her daughter is rocky. Who has approached middle-age and is re-evaluating her choices and her goals (and unfortunately, her life ends before she comes to any conclusions). Just as Megan finds that with her mother's death, she loses the chance for reconciliation (her last conversation with her mother was an argument).

There's not a lot of resolution, but there is some, and as the book ends, we feel that Megan, her father, and Huck just might be ok.