This book tells the story of despairingly childless Lucy who walks off with a four-month-old baby in a shopping trolley at IKEA, and the effect this has on the baby and her family, particularly the mother Marilyn. It quickly becomes clear that Lucy raises the baby until she is twenty-one and then something happens. The mystery is what happened and where is Lucy now?
Each chapter is just a page or two and is written from the perspective of one of the characters. It's fast paced and I devoured the second half in one sitting. There is a lot of internal dialogue and introspection; I thought this was well written and credible but others may not. Marilyn turns to yoga and alternative therapies to deal with her grief. She's into crystals and readings etc. I found this became a bit cliched, or even comic, towards the end.
The baby loses three mother figures. A major theme is 'who is your mother?'; the person who gave birth to you, the person you've always called Mum, or the person who was there for you? I wasn't keen on the ending, but it did address the question.
