SOCIAL MEDIA

Review: What I Thought I Knew

I don’t remember where I saw this book but I did request it, this much I know.

I read this book in one day, I couldn’t put it down. While I was reading I kept thinking, Alice Eve Cohen should be on Oprah. Imagine my surprise when I click on the author’s website and find this: 25 BEST BOOKS OF SUMMER—Oprah Magazine

This is Alice Eve Cohen’s story. A forty something woman enjoying all life has to offer. She has a wonderful man, a little girl and a full life.

Imagine her surprise when she learns she is six months pregnant after being told she was infertile, fourteen years ago… try to absorb that for a moment.

I don't want to share any details beyond what I have already shared (and what's listed in the synopsis below); I want to talk about this book, need to talk about it but I would ruin the story for you. I will tell you that my Dad called last night while I was reading and I told him about Eve’s story. He called me today to find out how it ended.

I brought the book to my book club last night and one gal couldn’t put the book down. This book is definately on the memoir short list for 2010.

The author generously sent me an extra copy of this book for a giveaway. If you would like the chance to win a copy, please leave a comment with your email address. I will pick a winner at random next Monday, Sept 28. Drawing closes at 8pm central.
Click here to watch a 5 minutes video clip.

Type: Memoir, 191 pages, Hardcover

Synopsis:Alice Cohen was happy for the first time in years. After a difficult divorce, she was engaged to a wonderful man, she was raising a beloved adopted daughter; and her career was blossoming. Then she started experiencing mysterious symptoms. After months of tests, X-rays, and hormone treatments, Alice was diagnosed with an abdominal tumor and sent for an emergency CAT scan that revealed the cause of her symptoms. She was six months pregnant.

At age 44, with no prenatal care and no insurance coverage for a high-risk pregnancy, Alice was inundated with opinions from doctors and friends telling her what was ethical, what was loving, what was right. With the suspense of a thriller and the intimacy of a diary, Cohen describes her unexpected odyssey through doubt, a broken medical system, and the complexities of motherhood and family in today's world. Ruefully funny, wickedly candid, What I Thought I Knew is a mystery, a love story, a philosophical quest and a personal tour de force.