Land of Last Chances

Cohen’s satisfying, fast-paced debut follows a 48-year-old businesswoman who learns she’s pregnant. Throughout her life, Jeanne Bridgeton had been convinced by her recently deceased mother that a woman must prioritize a successful career above bearing children. Jeanne followed that advice, moving up the corporate ladder at a technology business called Salientific until reaching the position of marketing v-p. She thought she had already entered menopause, but then she finds out she’s pregnant, and the father is either Vince, a key investor in Salientific, or Salientific’s CEO, Jake, with whom she had a post-party one-night stand. These professional indiscretions and questions of paternity complicate matters as Jeanne moves through the opening months of her pregnancy. Further complicating things is her discovery of her mother’s keepsake box, which reveals that her father had died from early-onset Alzheimer’s. Because both Jeanne and her baby may also carry the gene, she considers abortion. Jeanne endures a number of additional ordeals, including protecting Jake, who has PTSD, against a corporate mutiny, and caring for her lovable but dying dog, Bricklin, who’s her best friend and only family. Though overwhelming with its onslaught of tribulations, the novel sustains its momentum and holds readers’ attention with capable prose and emotional depth. This is a worthwhile debut about overcoming midlife obstacles.[em] (BookLife) [/em]