Kinship Theory (Hardcover, 1st ed)

"Who better than a mother to do it? It's just reversing the natural order a bit," Dale explains when she asks her mother to bear the child she cannot have herself. Maggie Crown, forty-seven, divorced, and a scientist, says yes to her daughter, and through gestational surrogacy is soon carrying a baby that is "hers to love, but not to keep." As Maggie's relationship with her daughter is thrown into new and often painful focus with this understanding, she begins to question her decision, her choices in life, and herself as a good mother.

Even as Maggie struggles with the unintended consequences of her pregnancy, those closest to her see in this extraordinary act of altruism the answer to their own problems. To Ben, her former lover and boss, Maggie is the seductive antidote to aging and illness. To her best friend Doris, Maggie is the cure for her own emptying nest. For others, she is the wonderful, unexpected turn in life. For Dale, though, she remains a bitter reminder of her own failings and frailties.

When the baby is born, it becomes clear that while Dale desperately wanted a child, she was not ready to care for one. As she struggles with the responsibilities of new parenthood, everyone rallies to her side, but it is Maggie who is finally forced into action she alternately sees as betrayal and necessity to save them all.

In fresh and lyrical prose, Kaplan limns the emotional landscape of these ordinary people in their extraordinary circumstances, creating characters as real as they are compelling. A powerful, moving novel, Kinship Theory explores the nature of desire, the bonds of family, and the possibilities and passions of parenthood.