Book Review: Not My Daughter

In 2008, 17 girls at Gloucester High School in Massachusetts became pregnant which people believed was actually a pregnancy pact made between these teens. Though evidence proved that there was no such pregnancy pact, the issue fascinated the nation and is the focus of Barbara Delinsky's Not My Daughter.

In the novel, high school student Lily chooses to become pregnant as do two of her best friends. It is soon discovered that the pregnancies were not a fluke but instead were planned by the teens. To make matters worse, Lily's mother, Susan, is the principal of the high school in which these girls attend. In addition, Lily's mother is also a single mom who was impregnated out of wedlock and raised Lily on her own. As the truth comes out about the pregnancy pact, Lily's mother is targeted as the villain in this small town in Maine. Though she is incredibly perplexed and angry with her daughter, Susan is supportive and stands behind her daughter. The same cannot be said of the other mother's whose daughters chose to become pregnant. The mother of Lily's friend Mary Kate already has a number of children that she is raising in a small house with her husband. Jessica, the final girl to join the pact, has a mother who prides herself on her image and is the least accepting of her daughter. While all of the mothers are best friends, their feelings towards their daughters' decisions clash and threaten to jeopardize their relationship with each other.

The majority of the story concerns Susan and Lily, their relationship as mother and daughter and their connection to the community. When Susan first arrived in the small Maine town, she was fleeing from her parents who cast her out of their home after learning that she was pregnant. By working extremely hard, she was able to get a college education and the town went out on a limb to hire her as their high school principal. In addition, Susan and her three best friends started their own knitting company that was under the auspices of the town's largest company (which in many ways runs the small town). When word of the pregnancies gets out, not only is Susan's job in jeopardy but so is the knitting company. The town that had once welcomed her and her daughter has now turned its back on both women.

Overall, this is a story about love and understanding. It not only raises the issue of teen pregnancy but also brings to light the resulting drama that unfolds when such a pact is made. It is a novel about friendship both between the high school girls and between their mothers. I found the characters to be extremely realistic and multi-dimensional. Most interesting, is that each girl who decided to get pregnant was an honor roll student who was destined for college. Such smarts made each mother wonder why her daughter decided to take this path. Therefore, the title becomes very important as each mother and even each member of the town declares that such an act could never be committed by "my" daughter. Though the ending seemed a bit forced and tied everything a bit too neatly for my taste, the true gem of this story are the relationships that the women create and how they change when they are put under pressure. It was a light read that I was able to race through in about two days but I savored just about every moment of it.

-DLP