Amy Hatvany

Amy Hatvany is carving out a nice niche for herself in the Barbara Delinsky/Jodi Picoult Women's Fiction genre. Heart Like Mine is a well-written, thoughtful novel where there are no heroes or villains, just realistic characters dealing with incredibly difficult situations. Grace is madly in love with Victor and, although she never particularly wanted to be a mother, she is satisfied with seeing his two children on his alternating weekends. But when his ex-wife Kelli dies suddenly, Grace has show more to reassess their relationship, including an engagement so recent they haven't even told Victor's kids yet. What does Grace owe Victor and his kids, and is this still the relationship she wants?

Meanwhile, Victor's teenaged daughter Ava is grieving her mother's death while also feeling resentment towards her father and his girlfriend and anger towards her mother for leaving her behind. Already an outsider at school, she doesn't want to be known as "the girl whose mother died."

Both Grace and Victor fear that Kelli's death might have been a suicide, and chapters told from the dead woman's point of view provide insight into her troubled psyche. Kelli was an emotionally fragile woman who had never recovered from an adolescent trauma, but she desperately loved her children. Was she falling deeper into despair or was she about to turn the corner?

Despite the difficult subject matter, the story moves quickly as the reader wants to find out the mystery behind Kelli's death and see a positive resolution for the remaining characters. My one quibble is the unlikely premise that Grace, the director of a battered women's shelter, would drive a Lexus (a fact that bothers Ava, given Kelli's more modest lifestyle). But that's a small point in an otherwise engaging novel. show less

Heart Like Mine is a story of families, love, loss, grief, and, finally, redemption told from the perspective of three women. These women have only one thing in common - a man named Victor. Kelli, his ex-wife, wants nothing more than to be loved and to be a good mother to their two children. Her untimely death is the catalyst for the story. Grace, his fiancee, is a strong career woman who, despite having a huge well of caring and compassion, has no desire to be a mother. With Kelli's death, show more she is suddenly forced to take over as full-time caregiver to the two children and is not sure if she can cope or if she wants to. Ava, Victor's thirteen-year-old daughter, is grieving for her dead mother and hates Grace for being alive while Kelli is dead. Although she has been more caretaker to her mother than daughter since the divorce, she had always hoped that her parents would get back together.

The story is told in alternate viewpoints by each of the three. Grace and Ava speak in the first-person present while Grace's story is told in the third person with flashbacks to her past. Interestingly,Victor, the tie that binds the three, is absent for most of the story and he has no real voice in the narrative. How we see him depends on how he is perceived by each of the women.

The story is about love, grief, and becoming a family but it is also about the power of parents to effect the lives of their children, the importance of friendships, and how even small decisions can change lives. It is beautifully written and, although the switching between alternate viewpoints at times feels like watching someone juggle dangerous objects and fearing that one must drop, author Amy Hatvany never loses control of the novel. The women always remain distinctive voices and the story never loses focus. If, like me, you like stories with strong women and good men, this book is for you. show less

I normally shy away from "issue" novels, but Amy Hatvany's compelling language and accurate characterization, so firmly rooted in the real life of thousands of people, drew me along with such a firm grasp that I couldn't put it down. Through the magic of her honest writing style, the reader comes to genuinely like the main character, Cadence, as she tries and fails to cope with tremendous pressures. We sympathize with her when she slowly realizes that she alone cannot maintain a writing show more career to earn money and raise her son the way she wants to without help. But she feels utterly alone, in spite of the support of her beloved sister and the moms in the various groups she takes her to, who seem enviably "together," with no problems they can't handle. As she indulges too much in the relief of alcohol, her inevitable downward slide is just as surprising to the reader as it is to Cadence. Even as she researches the symptoms of alcohol addiction on the internet, she reaches rock bottom and loses it all when her ex husband takes their boy and sues for custody.

Although most of the readers of this book will be "normies," who don't drink too much, Hatvany's vivid exploration of Cadence's thought processes and the revulsion she feels even as as purchases and pours the wine and vodka forces us to see how her predicament is a possibility for so many everyday people who can't ask for help for whatever reason. This novel will help anyone with any kind of addiction to feel less alone, and anyone who knows an addict to learn what they can do to help.

In short: beautifully written, realistic, by a sensitive writer, and highly recommended. show less

SAFE WITH ME is one of those books that stirs up all kinds of emotions. Anger, heartbreak, empathy, and hope. It’s the kind of story that rattles you from the very beginning and makes you a part of the characters’ lives. I liked how the author handled some heavy subject matter with sensitivity and compassion.

The story is about two mothers, Hannah and Olivia, who are brought together by chance when Hannah’s daughter dies, and her organ donation allows Olivia’s teenage daughter Maddie show more to live. The donation was anonymous and confidential, but fate has different ideas, and the three women unknowingly become tangled in each other’s lives.

Hannah, Olivia, and Maddie were complex, realistic characters dealing with serious issues – Hannah, dealing with the death of her child; Olivia, suffering at the hands of an abusive husband; and Maddie, struggling with the guilt that someone had to die for her to live. My heart went out to each one. Listening to the audiobook helped me connect with the characters even more. Joy Osmanski, Rebekkah Ross, and Cassandra Campbell gave brilliant performances, capturing the essence of their character.

SAFE WITH ME is another winner from Amy Hatvany. Definitely sad at times with some nail biting moments along the way, but the ending left me feeling optimistic.

Source: Review copy from the publisher

Rating: 4.5 Stars show less