Nina Chickalini desperately
wanted a life of her own. As the eldest child of a large brood, it had fallen to Nina to
single-handedly raise her younger siblings when her mother had died giving birth to her
youngest brother. Even now, as a thirty-six year old woman, Nina’s still living at
home, looking after the family, taking care of them as well as running the family pizzeria
so that her Pop can take some much needed rest. But with her younger brothers growing up
fast and her younger sister getting married soon, this Queens resident feels that at long
last she can make plans for herself, which include a much dreamt-about trip to the French
Riviera and more besides.
Her best friend since childhood, Joe Materi knew
Nina almost as well as she knew herself. They’d been there for each other, through
good times and bad. And they can talk to each other about anything, except for that one
forbidden night they shared so long ago. That’s why Nina is flabbergasted when Joe
makes her an incredible request to have his baby! She knows she should turn him down
– after all, she’d spent all her life until now taking care of children and this
had naturally cured her of any urge to have children of her own. Or did she? Suddenly she
sees Joe in a new light, she sees him as the handsome, charming and successful man that
countless women have fallen for, and not her teasing childhood pal anymore. But a child
– now isn’t that asking for too much? Or is it? Besides, it would mean the end
of the grand adventure Nina had always dreamt of having. What will Nina do?
Wendy Markham spins a sweet, comfortable and yet
surprisingly bold story in “The Nine Month Plan”. The issue of surrogacy
is central to this story and the author has looked at it from various points of view. Nina
is especially very easy to relate to as the frustrated woman longing to have a life of her
own, and yet experience the joys of motherhood. Nina is complex, she’s funny and most
of all she feels real. Joe is an equally well fleshed out character, though a bit
uncommon, as he’s shown as a man who’s tired of constantly going out with women,
who realizes his age and wants to have a baby! This will especially make this Italian hunk
more pleasing to the female readers! Together, he and Nina go from being friends to
lovers, a journey which is fraught with tension, uncertainty, familial pressure, sibling
rivalry, jealously, and ultimately love and lots and lots of passion. All this, together
with humor and comedy, make “The Nine Month Plan” a total fun and
delightful read!!
Reviewed By Rashmi Srinivas for The Road to
Romance
July 16, 2003 |
