That Other Orphanhood
by Gabriela Couturier
That Other Orphanhood speaks to that deeply dissatisfied inner self who feels trapped in a life that is very different from the one we intended to live. It is, also, a novel about a coming of age of sorts: the main character stands at the threshold of mid-life, and while she is a successful career woman with a good marriage and a seemingly enviable life, she knows the decisions she makes from now on will have ever more permanent consequences. Changing course to pursue a long-coveted dream might endanger not only everything else she has achieved but the very foundations of her life. And the insistent beckoning of maternity feels more like a question than an answer in her orderly world. With her struggle against the increasingly common nightmare of infertility as a leitmotiv, That Other Orphanhood reflects on the contradictions that threaten the harmony between our ambitions, the expectations of society and our very essence.