Baby Dreams
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Published by: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: January 1, 1989
Pages: 303
ISBN13: 978-0671667580
Synopsis
A. A successful and wealthy career woman yearns for her first child, but finds she must make a choice between her own maternal longings and the man she loves, in this novel by the author of "Manshare".
B. Babydreams is captivating contemporary fiction, entertaining, provocative, and immensely moving in equal parts. Stevie Weinberger, Maxine Paetro’s 39-year-old heroine, faces the questions that obsess the “thirtysomething” generation – the conflict between the person we remember and the person we’ve become, the difficulty of sustaining a relationship while keeping to the fast track, and ultimately, the decision of whether or not to have a baby.
C. Stevie is a successful New York City talk show host who comes face to face with her past and all the questions she thought were far behind her when a former college sweetheart reenters her life. While in college, Stevie became pregnant by Andy, a promising young baseball player. Madly in love, and confident of Andy’s feelings for her, Stevie has visions of baby, marriage, and happily-ever-after. But the dream turns into a nightmare when Andy tells her that his former girlfriend Carol is pregnant and he must marry her. Devasted, Stevie’s left with no choice but to abort.
D. Twenty years later, with a brilliant career and a loving man who adores her, Stevie has never looked back. Until the past directly confronts her as Carol, divorced from Andy, bitter about their botched marriage, and envious of Stevie’s seemingly have-it-all glamorous life, pays a visit with her daughter,Lisa. Stevie and Lisa get along famously, and soon Stevie begins to long for her own child – a prospect that panics her lover Philip (divorced father of two teenagers and that’s enough thank you very much). When Andy comes back – ready to pick up where they left off twenty years earlier – Stevie is forced to reevaluate her priorities and reexamine the life she’s chosen in light of what still could be.
E. Babydreams is an emotion-packed roller coaster ride that any woman who has ever contemplated or consummated motherhood will love from start to finish. With her fingers firmly planted on the pulse of American womanhood (and her ear keenly tuned to the universal ticking biological time clock), Maxine Paetro has written a fresh, joyous, and thought-provoking novel as witty as it is insightful and as entertaining as it is compassionate.
F. Stephanie (Stevie) Weinberger. Thirty-nine and going on twenty-nine in gorgeous good looks. On the top as a TV talk-show star and going higher. In love with a lovely lover and going to all the right places with him.
G. What could be going wrong with her perfect life? What do other women have that she wants? What is the secret desire that threatens everything else she has? What dream will she or won’t she risk it all to make come true?
Praise
"Author and former advertising executive Paetro ( Manshare ) writes effectively about a modern woman's dilemma: deciding whether to have a child. In 1969, college student Stevie Weinberger had an abortion when her boyfriend, Andy Newman, dutifully married his ex-flame, Carol, also pregnant by him. Today, at 39, Stevie is a successful New York TV personality, but her peace of mind vanishes when Carol, now divorced from Andy, reappears. Upon meeting the Newmans' entrancing daughter, Stevie desperately craves a child of her own. Her lover, Philip, adamantly refuses; he can barely cope with his teenaged son from a previous marriage. Just when Stevie and Philip sadly part, Andy returns to offer Stevie a tantalizing chance to start a family with him. Meanwhile, Stevie's colleague Ginny faces her own fears that motherhood would sidetrack her career. Paetro portrays her likable, realistic, vulnerable characters with the flair of a seasoned novelist. First serial to Cosmopolitan."
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
– Publishers Weekly
“On having it all – Except a baby…. Compelling, touching, Dead-on Honesty.”
– Chicago Tribune
“Funny and appealing… Featherlike sensitivity probes the heart of every woman who has experienced motherhood or contemplated it.”
– Newport News Daily Press
“This is a Baby Boom. “Thirtysomething’ and Broadcast News rolled into one. It’s hip, it’s thought-provoking, and it’s great reading all the way through.”
– The Los Angeles Times Book Reviews
“Maxine Paetro has written a touching and compelling novel…. This story is saved from being a “thirtysomething’ lament in the key of whine by Paetro’s dead-on honesty… Paetro shines.”
– The Chicago Tribune
“Babydreams is a wonderful, insightful, and complex look into relationships and the compromises that have to be made.”
– Rave Reviews
“Paetro has a sure hit here with baby boomers. “
– Library Journal
“Paetro writes effectively about a modern woman’s dilemma… She portrays her likable, realistic, vulnerable characters with the flair of a seasoned novelist.”
– Publishers Weekly
“Paetro’s second novel is a snappy little comedy of errors with a trendy, topical spin.”
– Kirkus Reviews
“Realistic and moving, Babydreams is a novel about life and the choices individuals must make and live with. It will be of special interest to, and strike a chord with, many female readers.”
– The Pittsburgh Press
"As she turns 39, New York talk show host Stevie Weinberger hears her biological clock ticking away, and the urge to have a baby overwhelms her. But, biological concerns aside, it's not so easy. Her career is all-consuming, and the man she loves doesn't want any more children, having lost two through divorce years earlier. Despite the glamorous setting and all too beautiful people, the characters and their concerns seem real, at least until the last fourth of the book, which deteriorates into fairy-tale romance a la Love Story . Still, advertising executive Paetro ( Manshare) has a sure hit here with baby boomers. Francine Fialkoff, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
-Library Journal
Excerpt
She could have a baby if she wanted to. Couldn’t she? She wasn't too old. She was still young. She was in love with a wonderful man. If she and Phillip got married, she'd still have years to decide whether or not to have a child. What if they got married and she decided she wanted a baby after all -- and Phillip refused? What if they didn't get married? They air the room seemed sharp and alive. Would she be alone forever?