In the Family Way

A warm, uplifting and empowering novel following a group of suburban housewives and the pregnant teenager they welcome into their fold as they find their place on the cusp of liberation. For fans of Lessons in Chemistry or The Help.


'Bursts with complexity, drama and warmth… A timely, timeless novel' Catherine Newman, author of Sandwich

'A powerful tale, well told… [with] a delightful cast of characters that you can't help but fall in love with' Fiona Davis, author of The Stolen Queen



*****



Every week a group of suburban housewives meet for their Tuesday canasta game. As cards are drawn and discarded, the women share advice and confidences. When Lily Berg – the perfect doctor's wife and loving mother – falls pregnant with her second child, her friends suggest she take in a teen from the local home for unwed expecting mothers to help with babysitting and housekeeping.

Fifteen-year-old Betsy Ann Eubanks, who has never spent time away from home and never even met anyone Jewish before, is to live with the Bergs for six months, have her own baby, and agree never to contact the family again.

But the lives of Lily and her friends are less simple than Betsy imagines. There's Lily's best friend, pregnant with a fourth child she desperately can't afford; and her sister, Rose, who is going to discover that her perfect husband is anything but. When Lily opened her home to the teenager, she didn't expect to open her heart too.


Set against the backdrop of 1960s America, In the Family Way is a timely novel that captures the experiences of women on the cusp of liberation as they grapple with timeless questions of womanhood and the role we play as wives, mothers, and people in our own right.