An Amazon Best Book of the Month: Literature & Fiction
POPSUGAR Fall Must-Read Selection
“Dawson (The Opposite of Maybe, 2014, etc.) is a generous storyteller, creating characters who are both complex and unexpected while being wholly relatable.” —Kirkus Reviews
“In this heartfelt novel, Dawson (The Opposite of Maybe, 2014) weaves together the stories of three very different women who are bound by blood, delving deeply into the true meaning of family.” —Booklist
“In Nina, Dawson (The Opposite of Maybe) introduces a lovable, flawed character challenged by day-to-day life and searching for love and a feeling of belonging...Nina is delightful and spirited, and her engaging, charming story illustrates the humor and quirkiness of life.” —Library Journal
“Engaging writing and compelling characters seize readers from the first chapter of Dawson’s latest novel. The examination of family—in all its forms and fashions—makes this an ideal book club read.” —RT Book Reviews
“Maddie Dawson writes a charming story about family in her new novel, The Survivor’s Guide to Family Happiness...an endearing story of love and loss.” —Associated Press
“Maddie Dawson has been a longtime favorite writer of mine because she has the gift of tapping into the emotions and complexities of a woman's heart and effortlessly combining tension with joy. She's done it again with The Survivor's Guide to Family Happiness. Put it on your list of not-to-be-missed fiction.” —Marybeth Mayhew Whalen, cofounder of She Reads and author of The Things We Wish Were True
“Like authors Liane Moriarty and JoJo Moyes, Maddie Dawson is one of those gifted writers who spins seemingly comic, romantic tales that tackle our most universal longings for love, connection, and family. In her newest book, she delivers the story of two sisters given up for adoption. Their journey to discover each other and the mother who gave them up is by turns heart-wrenching and laugh-out-loud hilarious. I loved every witty sentence.” —Holly Robinson, author of Chance Harbor and Beach Plum Island
“Maddie Dawson has done it again. Witty, warm, and full of insights into life’s maddening complexities, her novels should come with a warning label: May cause tears, laughter, or all of the above.” —Sarah Knight, bestselling author of The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck
09/15/2016
What happens when a 35-year-old woman's dying mother leaves her daughter a clue about her birth origins? Nina Popkin always knew she was adopted. As she grew up, she searched for her biological mother, making up stories about the other adoptees in her school. Now, she learns she has a younger sister. Impulsive as always, Nina tracks her sibling down. Although Lindy McIntyre doesn't want another sister, Nina is cheerful and insistent. She finds ways to insert herself into others' lives—her sister's and also that of a newly separated man and his family. Nina wants a family, and if she has to put one together in bits and pieces, she will. Things would be even better if she could find the woman who as a teenager gave up two little girls. In Nina, Dawson (The Opposite of Maybe) introduces a lovable, flawed character challenged by day-to-day life and searching for love and a feeling of belonging. VERDICT Recommended for readers who enjoy character-driven books dealing with everyday struggles. Nina is delightful and spirited, and her engaging, charming story illustrates the humor and quirkiness of life.—Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN
2016-08-10
A woman's quest to find her birth mother takes her in an unexpected direction.Nina Popkin always wondered where she came from, but after her adoptive mother's death and her own recent divorce she feels more untethered to the world than usual. Before she died, Nina's mother was only able to provide her with three clues regarding her origin: the names of the orphanage and a potentially helpful nun and an allusion to a mysterious photograph squirreled away somewhere in the house. Unfortunately for Nina, her adoption records are technically sealed, though Sister Germaine doesn't exactly follow the rules. She finds out that she has a younger sister who was also given up for adoption, and the orphanage arranges a meeting. Turns out, Nina already knew her sister: they went to grammar school together. Though sharing her vibrant red hair, Nina's sister, Lindy, does not share her enthusiasm for putting her birth family back together. After finding out more about her early days than she wanted to know, Lindy storms out of the office and Sister Germaine follows, leaving Nina alone with all her records. She learns both her mother's name and the fact that she was only 15 when Nina was born. But from there, her mother's story gets a bit more complicated: she had been moderately famous, the lead singer of a girl band in the ’80s. And when Nina decides to contact her, it appears at first that she wants nothing to do with the daughters she gave up so many years earlier. Told from the perspectives of Nina, Lindy, and their mother, Phoebe, the novel navigates their often twisting paths back to one another, as all the women realize that the bonds of family develop both by choice and by DNA. Dawson (The Opposite of Maybe, 2014, etc.) is a generous storyteller, creating characters who are both complex and unexpected while being wholly relatable.