Books Movies & Music / Fiction Books / Can we really have it all?

This is not your typical chic lit novel: girl meets guy; girl loses guy; girl gets guy back; girl gets important job in the publishing industry. Okay, well it is in a way, but there is a twist.

First of all, the main character, Claudia Parr, starts out the book having everythindg she thought she always wanted. She's got the good job, which just happens to be as a literary agent, and, more importantly, she has the perfect man. This man treats her well AND agrees with her stance on not wanting kids.

Problem is, he only agrees with this stance for a while, and then he has a change of heart. So Claudia has to decide what is more important, not having kids or having the man she loves and having kids. This is all the more infuriating since one of her sisters is struggling with infertiltiy while her other sister is stuck in an unhappy marriage. It seems like there is no way to win this one.

The plot has the typical twists and turns and is a pretty quick read, though I found the ending somewhat unsatisfying. I would recommend Giffin's other two novels before this one.

The thing that bothers me about this book is that in the beginning, Claudia is confident and sure of herself and what she wants out of life. But then she begins to doubt herself not because of her own feelings but due to the actions of other people. It doesn't seem true to her character. Also, there is an icky hookup with a coworker in the middle of the book that seems pretty out in left field. I had to cringe as I read parts of the text, wondering "what was she thinking?" about the narrato--and the author.