Library Journal Review of NINE MONTHS

Sonia, Brooklyn wife and mother of two, is shocked by an unexpected pregnancy, which comes just as she plans to revisit the artistic ambitions she set aside when her sons were born. In a hormone-induced panic Sonia abandons her family and sets out on a cross-country odyssey to rediscover her predomestic self. Fueled by desperation, she revisits different chapters of her life, pausing along the way to drink, smoke pot, and indulge in unprotected sex with a stranger at a truck stop. VERDICT Bomer, who previously lacerated the underbelly of family life in her short story collection Baby, has crafted a raw, darkly funny, at times appalling page-turner that rails against the sanctimonious culture of attachment parents, baby-wearers, and fervid breast feeders. Sonia is hard to like but genuine, both in her despair and in her flashes of affection for the family she’s left behind. Mommy lit lovers will be horrified, but Bomer’s debut novel will resonate with fans of quirky, character-driven fiction in the vein of Richard Russo, John Updike, and Tiffany Baker.