The Opposite of Fate

November 25, 2019
McGhee (Never Coming Back) dwells on bad things happening to a good person in this frustrating tale of morality and sexual assault. Massage therapist Mallie Williams, 21, had what she thought was an idyllic life, sharing a home in upstate New York with her first love, Zach Miller, and her younger brother, Charlie. As children, Mallie and Charlie were abandoned by their widowed mother, Lucia, for a cultlike church, though they’ve since found a surrogate family in Zach, their neighbor William T., and his girlfriend, Crystal. Then Mallie is raped by a stranger and suffers a coma-inducing head injury. The rape resulted in Mallie becoming pregnant, and she awakens 16 months later, having given birth via C-section and slept through a media-driven battle over what should be done about her pregnancy. Charlie flees to a Pennsylvania boarding school to escape public scrutiny, while Zach weighs in on what should happen with the baby. Sentimental optimism and Mallie’s implausible empathy for the rapist undercut this testament of surviving a nightmarish scenario. McGhee’s exploration of tough questions misses the mark.

November 15, 2019
The author of Never Coming Back (2017) and Shadow Baby (2000) takes on reproductive freedom--and a lot more--in her new book. The reader learns two things about this novel's protagonist at the outset. One is that Mallie Williams has been in a coma for months and months. The second is that she's pregnant. From that arresting opening, the story jumps ahead to the moment when, a year and a half after having been raped and beaten, Mallie wakes. She struggles to deal with the knowledge that she has given birth to a child she would not have chosen to keep had she been capable of making decisions for herself. In alternating chapters, we follow William T., a neighbor who has been like a father to Mallie since her own father died. And when Mallie decides to create an identity and a narrative for the unknown assailant who almost killed her, we see that, too. Through William T.'s recollections and newspaper clippings, we learn how Mallie's body became a battleground for the friends and family members who were certain that she would have wanted an abortion and her mother, whose faith makes abortion anathema. McGhee handles this conflict with considerable care and without taking sides. But this novel is about much more than a divisive issue. The courtroom drama and the media frenzy take place, for the most part, offstage. This is, at its heart, a novel about family--including chosen family--autonomy, and identity. While most of the novel's characters are carefully drawn, Mallie's mother remains an enigma. She never has the chance to speak for herself, and, without understanding her motivations, some of her choices seem more convenient than believable. Also, it's noticeably odd that Mallie seems to have no friends outside of William T., his girlfriend, and another older neighbor. The only peer with whom this young woman seems to have any connection is her boyfriend. Thoughtful and moving.

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November 1, 2019
Mallie Williams wakes after being in a coma for more than a year. Slowly, she comes to learn that she has become a celebrity in her small upstate New York town. Mallie was assaulted and left for dead. As she recovered, her belly swelled with an unexpected pregnancy. A fight over Mallie's unborn baby ensued, and Mallie's religious mother ultimately won?but then she died. Now, Mallie doesn't know where her child is or what she will do next. This is a quiet novel, despite its propulsive questions?will Mallie find her baby? How will she cope with her new life? McGhee uses thoughtful language and rich, meditative imagery to paint a picture of one young woman facing a difficult new path ahead. This book pairs well with Christina McDonald's The Night Olivia Fell (2019), a thriller version of a similar concept; Jodi Picoult's A Spark of Light (2018) also explores the gray areas in abortion rights and women's choices. Like its comparable titles, The Opposite of Fate is a prime book-group choice.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)