Book Review No 18: The Rules of Conception by Angela Lawrence

At the age of 35 Rachael has ticked a lot of items off her "to do" list - she's got her own apartment in Sydney, her career is flying high and she has a full social life with a great circle of friends. Yet, she has started to feel the pull of her biological clock and after the end of another relationship decides that it's now or never - she is going to have a baby alone.

Thus begins an entertaining and educational process - the selection of her unborn child's father. Rachael explores many options, ultimately deciding on a known donor who wants a child but doesn't want to be an involved parent. Digby appears to be the perfect potential father and once she chooses him Rachael doesn't waver in her choice. Once she makes the decision, Rachael creates a timeline and begins the process. After this the pregnancy happens relatively easily (which may have been a little unrealistic) and Rachael's road to parenthood begins.

I think The Rules of Conception explores a topic that is becoming more common in a fairly realistic way. Rachael does look into several options, each of which is detailed in the storyline and considers the pros and cons of each scenario. So in that sense the storyline is quite believable and the contemporary setting works really well. In terms of Rachael's character, I felt like she wasn't as developed as she could have been. I got a sense of who she was as a career woman and a friend, but I just didn't feel like her emotional side was very well explored. She moved through this major life changing experience without really giving away what was going on inside her head. She seemed more relieved that she was going to be a parent than excited - nor did she seem to have any periods of uncertainty that surely any woman facing single parenthood would.

While there were a couple of minor storylines involving some serious bullying from her boss and a flirty liaison with a former co-worker, neither of these really came to anything and overall didn't have much of an impact on the storyline. It was also surprising that nobody in all the people Rachael encountered had any kind of objection to the path she was taking - which is probably not entirely realistic even in today's society.

In saying all that, The Rules of Conception was an interesting book that was easy to read. I think the author has explored a controversial topic in a fair and sensitive way and conveyed to the reader a realistic picture of what the process entails. Definitely worth a read.