Moondance

Moondance – a book review

I used to get a little annoyed when people presumed I had IVF to conceive Monkey.  Yes I was over 40, but actually I fell for him within three months of trying.  I suppose I took that fact for granted, until we were trying for our second child.  The month after month of disappointment, tears when it was obvious I wasn’t pregnant.  Then the joy and subsequent pain of being pregnant, finally, and then miscarrying.  Emotions that are as clear today as they were five years ago.  I could relate to so much of what is written within Moondance, without having gone through the highs and lows of IVF.

Moondance

Written by Diane Chandler, Moondance tells the story of Cat, a successful business woman in her late thirties looking to become a mother for the first time.  Published through Blackbird Books on 1st November, this book really has pulled on my heartstrings.

We follow Cat’s journey, her progression as a political lobbyist, a real career woman, to the time she meets Dom on holiday in Asia.  It’s obvious from their first meeting that they have a special connection and some time later they meet up again and their relationship blossoms and marriage follows.  She’s very driven and totally focussed on her work and getting to the top of the pile.  Motherhood is something that can wait.  So when she’s reached that point in her career where she feels ready to try for a baby, she expects it to happen pretty rapidly.

But it doesn’t.  She doesn’t get pregnant. Life isn’t always that simple and for once Cat isn’t in control. So Cat and Dom seek help from a private fertility clinic, they are in a position where they are financially sound and so their IVF journey begins. I have a number of friends who have been through IVF, a few successfully, a few not.  The highs and lows are shown so well throughout Moondance.  The tests, drugs, injections, the underlying feelings of guilt.  The perception that the issue is with Cat, when in fact it sounds likely that Dom may be the one with the most problems.

As you turn the pages, you see a firm marriage begin to crumb under the timetable of cycles and treatment.  Rounds of treatment fail, something Cat in particular finds difficult to cope with, she’s on a relentless path, trying again and again to get pregnant.  It’s exhausting, and is tearing their marriage, her friendship and her career to bits.  She struggles with miscarriage and seeing others pregnant when she is not.

Moondance is beautifully written and I totally bought into Cat’s journey and was willing there to be a happy ending.  Was there?  I’m not going to tell you, that would ruin the read.  Buy it, and let me know what you think.

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disclosure:  we were sent the item mentioned in exchange for an honest review

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