Magpie
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By Elizabeth Day
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2 reviews
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She has almost everything. The rest she’ll take.
Marisa may have only known Jake a few months, but she has never felt this certain about anyone. When he asks her to move in with him and they start trying for a baby, she knows she has finally found the steadfast love and support she has been looking for all her life.
But their relationship is tested when they take in a lodger, Kate, who has little regard for personal boundaries and seems to take an uncomfortable interest in Jake – as well as the baby they are hoping to have.
Why is Kate so obsessed with the couple? And, more worryingly, why doesn’t Jake share Marisa’s concern?
In her determination to find the answers, Marisa risks losing everything she holds dear…
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St Just Thursday Evening Reading Group 2nd November 2023.
Magpie. Elizabeth Day.
This book gave rise to quite a long discussion, and was evidently a gripping ‘page-turner’ since several people couldn’t put it down and read it in very large chunks. “A compulsive read”; “a good plot with an interesting and unexpected twist”; and “a convincing depiction of both mental illness and toxic family dynamics”. Everyone commented that the journey through the processes of infertility treatment and IVF was gruelling and very hard for all concerned. The characters were thought convincing, with the possible exception of Jake. The plot twist (switching from Marisa’s to Kate’s point of view) was admired.
Points that people were less happy with were the idea of the in-laws smuggling Marisa back to their home, rather than having her admitted to a discreet private facility, and the ex-GP’s apparently unrestricted access to a lot of medication at short notice; also Marisa’s suitability as a surrogate, and her apparently problem-free handing over of the baby. Several people also thought that the ending of the book was a little weak, or “sugary”. Another problem was about Annabelle and her prominence in the story.
We tried to answer the question: what is this book really about? The answers were: mental illness; IVF; and family dynamics, particularly toxic mothers-in-law. Also obsession – Kate’s with having a baby; Annabelle’s with her son; and Marisa’s with Jake. A faint echo of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca was noticed in connection with this. A slight worry was that the book looked as if its main theme was surrogacy, but this turned out not to be the case – Marisa fulfilled her part of the deal without fuss and Kate bonded with the baby immediately; the surrogacy was not in fact the main point here.
We spent some time discussing the issues of surrogacy in general and how the women concerned would feel about giving up a baby to another woman, and about bringing up a baby to whom she hadn’t given birth; having babies, when and if, and infertility; and blended families, including children brought up by couples other than their parents, for varying reasons, and including historical examples.
Fabulous sinister story ...
