ARC Review: The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain

37638145 TITLE: The Dream Daughter

AUTHOR: Diane Chamberlain

PUBLICATION DATE: October 2nd, 2018

GENRE: Science Fiction, Historical Fiction

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis

When Caroline Sears receives the news that her unborn baby girl has a heart defect, she is devastated. It is 1970 and there seems to be little that can be done. But her brother-in-law, a physicist, tells her that perhaps there is. Hunter appeared in their lives just a few years before—and his appearance was as mysterious as his past. With no family, no friends, and a background shrouded in secrets, Hunter embraced the Sears family and never looked back.

Now, Hunter is telling her that something can be done about her baby’s heart. Something that will shatter every preconceived notion that Caroline has. Something that will require a kind of strength and courage that Caroline never knew existed. Something that will mean a mind-bending leap of faith on Caroline’s part.

And all for the love of her unborn child.

my review

I had never heard of Diane Chamberlain until a few months ago. I came across one of her novels at a secondhand bookshop and decided to give it a shot. After really enjoying it, I borrowed another one from the library. I ended up really enjoying that one too. When I saw The Dream Daughter was available to read on NetGalley I downloaded it thinking it would probably be good to read when I needed a break from YA. And I was right!! Diane Chamberlain has yet to disappoint and is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors!

The Dream Daughter a little different from her past novels. This one is science fiction! It involves time travel. If you’re not a big fan of sci-fi, I still urge you to give this a shot. Chamberlain writes time travel in such a seamless way that it almost feels real. Like it really is a possibility.

I really loved the main character, Carly. She is an incredibly strong woman. Stronger than I would’ve been able to be in her situation. If you’ve read any of Chamberlain’s previous novels then you know that strong female characters is something she’s really good at writing and Carly is no exception.

I also love how this novel focuses on a mother’s love rather than romantic love. (Something else that is a running theme throughout Chamberlain’s novels.) We see Carly’s love for her child, as well as Myra’s love for Hunter. We also get to see a very healthy platonic love between Hunter and Carly, and I absolutely adore that. Very rarely are men and women allowed to be just friends. Hunter ends up married to Carly’s sister, most novels would have somehow ended up with Carly and Hunter together and I really appreciate that that wasn’t the case in this situation.

I don’t want to say too much more for fear of spoiling anything, so I’ll keep this review short and sweet.