The running joke when I was young was that my parents went to the hospital to have a baby, and I was the last one left in the nursery, so they had to take me home.

Some might say, “That’s not something to joke about!” I say, I have often heard the story of the early morning hours when I was born, so I know I was not the last one left. Back in…a certain number of years ago, my father served in the Air Force, stationed in California. When my parents had my older sister, she took her time, so my mother decided to wait a little longer when she went into labor with me.

Wrong choice.

She woke my dad in the middle of the night to head to the base hospital. As they sped toward the security gate, the guard lifted the gate without checking my dad’s ID. My dad explained that anyone coming in hot at that hour of the night (it was about 2:00 in the morning) can only be headed to the hospital. He wasn’t wrong to be hurrying because I was almost completely born by the time the doctor reached the delivery room.

My parents also liked to point out that it was that particular doctor’s last night in his OB rotation, and he delivered 19 babies that night. Only one of them was a boy.

It’s a lot of detail, so I’m pretty sure I’m not adopted. So why, you might ask, did Mom always joke that they went to have a baby and I was the last one left in the nursery so they had to take me home? It’s because I was so different from my siblings growing up. I still am to a degree. I mean, everyone is their own person. But it was fly-in-your-face obvious when we were younger.

I preferred to stay inside and read every chance I got (duh). I was, and still am, ridiculously clumsy. I was not a hugger. (I am a little more of a hugger now, but when I was a teenager and well into my 20s, seriously don’t touch me. 😂) I eat one thing at a time on my plate. Say I have a plate of mashed potatoes, veggies, and steak. I will eat all of the veggies first, then all the potatoes, then the steak. I do not mix and match. 😉 I loved school. I wrote angsty poetry.

When my siblings learned to play poker (because that’s what my family did when we all got together), I stayed in another room reading a book. My daughter asked my parents to teach her how to play pinochle when she was in middle school. I still don’t know how to play poker. And I prefer to stay inside and read every chance I get. (I know I already said that one. It bears repeating.)

I never questioned whether I was actually my parents’ child. Imagine being in a situation where you did, and you might be Maggie Whitaker from the book I reviewed below. Check it out. You won’t regret it.

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Book Review

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5 Stars for Halfway to You by Jennifer Gold

413 pages
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: April 1, 2023
This title was an Amazon First Reads selection.

Publisher’s Description

An ambitious podcaster and her reclusive interviewee embark on a life-altering journey to uncover long-lost truths in this immersive story about love, travel, and family secrets.

Forty years ago, aspiring writer Ann Fawkes left the United States for a Mediterranean adventure that opened her heart to travel and love. After a chance encounter propelled her into the publishing world, she released her first novel, an instant bestseller―and the last book she ever wrote.

Now, Ann lives a reclusive life in the San Juan Islands, hiding from the public and its probing questions. But when podcaster Maggie Whitaker convinces Ann to sit for an interview, Ann agrees on one condition: Maggie must keep her story off the record.

Determined to change Ann’s mind before she loses her job, Maggie agrees. But as she learns about Ann’s life―particularly the love affair that inspired her novel and the decisions she made in its wake―Maggie realizes Ann’s story intersects with her own in shocking, life-changing ways.

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Main Characters:

• Ann Fawkes – reclusive author of the bestselling, cult-classic novel Chasing the Shadows along with short stories and travel articles; agreed to be interviewed for a podcast now that she’s planning to release a new novel
• Maggie Whitaker – podcaster on her first field assignment with Stories Behind the Stories; was selected to interview Ann because she is the niece of Maggie’s former editor; your basic Ann Fawkes fan girl
• Keith Whitaker – Ann’s former editor, Maggie’s uncle, passed away four years prior to the setting of the book; he left a wife and daughter (Barbara and Iris); has two sisters, Tracey and Natalie
• Todd Langley – the love of Ann’s life despite and on-again off-again, long-distance relationship; Keith’s best friend; passed away two years prior to the setting of the book
• Tracey and Bob McCallum – Maggie’s parents; Tracey does not trust Ann

It’s been a while since I chose an Amazon First Reads selection that I enjoyed this much. My first by this particular author, it won’t be my last.

The story covers two timelines…beginning back in the 1980s when Ann first met Keith and Todd and in the present day (actually 2024, although I’m not entirely sure why). Ann narrates the past as she tells Maggie her story, which Maggie has agreed to keep off the record with the hope that Ann will eventually acquiesce. In the 2024 timeline, Maggie interjects, asks questions, participates in idle conversation with Ann.

I love the way this story plays out. Ann, as we expect, weaves fantastic stories. (She is a writer after all.) And Maggie begins to learn how intertwined Ann’s life is with the Whitaker family. She knew of Ann but had never met her. Maggie also knows of the animosity between her mother Tracey and Ann, but without any context, she forges ahead because she is a huge fan, having read Ann’s book multiple times.

Maggie also knows that Ann socialized often with the Whitakers when she and Keith worked together. Having overheard her parent’s talking once when she was younger about “Maggie’s father,” she questions her parents and her place in the Whitaker family…and suspects that Ann might have some insight into the truth.

Ann adamantly refuses to discuss her personal life. When Maggie tries to convince her, Ann tells her she thinks the interview was a bad idea. Desperate to make the interview happen, Maggie tells Ann that Keith was her uncle, and she thinks he would have wanted them to talk. Maggie doesn’t know why she feels this way, but she feels like she needs to know why.

I won’t say anything else about the story because you should enjoy hearing Ann reveal the details herself. Beautifully complex characters, tragic losses, inexplicable love, a story about best friends and betrayals and everything in between. I couldn’t stop reading this one. I had so many theories, and the author does a great job of keeping details buried so as not to give away secrets too early.

This is the kind of book where you have to take a deep breath when you reach the last page to process what you just finished. You’ll want to make time for this one.

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