Hold My Girl: A Novel

Charlene Carr

Jan 2023 · HarperCollins

About this ebook

For fans of Jodi Picoult, Kate Hewitt and Ashley Audrain, a heart-wrenching novel about two women whose eggs are switched during IVF  

Katherine is a woman full of obsessions. Everything clean, everything perfect, all the time. After seven years of trying—and failing—to conceive, she finally gives birth to Rose, her IVF miracle child. But she’s afraid that Rose may not be her daughter; her pale skin doesn’t match Katherine’s own. 

Tess never got her happy ending. She took on IVF alongside Katherine and a group of hopeful mothers, but her daughter, Hanna, was stillborn. After a series of poor choices, she’s divorced, broke and stuck in a job that’s below her skill set. 

Ten months later, Katherine and Tess get a call from the fertility clinic that reveals shocking news: the two women’s eggs were switched. While Katherine’s perfect life beings to crumble around her, for Tess it’s the glimmer of hope she needs to get her life back on track. But it will take a custody battle to decide who deserves to be Rose’s mother, a battle that will push both women to the brink.

With themes of racial identity, loss and betrayal, this emotional novel centred around a difficult moral question beautifully explores the complexities of motherhood. 

Ratings and reviews

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even though it took me a while to read it due to illness and family issues. The emotions I felt while reading...anger, fear, sympathy, heartache, frustration, sorrow, joy...I can't begin to imagine what Katherine & Tess went through. I think Ms. Carr did a wonderful job writing this story and I had a hard time imagining how it would end. I definitely recommend this book.

Wow! Heart-wrenching, and thought-provoking indeed! I read this book as an early beta reader and my emotions were all over the place. My heart ached for Katherine, my heart ached for Tess, my love grew for Rose, my anger flared at the behaviour of a number of the men and women who appear in this story, and who had such an effect on the happiness of the two main characters. Well-developed, well-written and will stay with you for days as you ponder the dilemma, the trauma, and the love.

About the author

CHARLENE CARR lives in Nova Scotia with her husband and daughter. She has published nine novels and recently received grants from Arts Nova Scotia and the Canada Council for the Arts to write her next one.