booksiloved.com - Book reviews of books the reviewer really liked

A review of The Zygote Chronicles

by Suzanne Finnamore

A touching and hilarious voyage from conception to motherhood.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Santiago
About Jennifer Santiago

The Zygote Chronicles By the time most first-time mothers-to-be hit the 7- or 8-week mark, they've already devoured The Pregnancy Book by Dr. Sears, What to Expect When You're Expecting, and The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy, and are despairing for more pregnancy books to read. Finnamore's The Zygote Chronicles should be handed out at the obstetrician's office.

A barely fictionalized account of Finnamore's own pregnancy, The Zygote Chronicles precisely captures the roller coaster of emotions all moms-to-be are strapped into from the time of conception right through labor and delivery. Finnamore writes an almost stream-of-consciousness open letter to her unborn baby, sharing with him her joys, anxieties, facts about life he'll need to know as an adult, and her hilariously voracious appetites for foods like coconut cake with lard-based frosting.

The Zygote Chronicles promises to have readers, pregnant or not, alternately laughing out loud and wiping away sentimental tears. More than just a story of expecting a child, Finnamore's story is also a long-overdue kind of self-discovery. She recounts her family history, her relationships with friends and her husband, and examines her own identity as defined by her career as a successful advertising executive. Her impending addition puts things in perspective- she can no longer take seriously 4-hour meetings where her colleagues vehemently debate whether the copy on a box of yeast infection cream should read "may cause mild burning" or "some women may experience a mild burning sensation."

I first read this book a couple years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, although my own bundle of joy wasn't even on the radar at that point. Recently, finding that only pregnancy books could hold my attention, and having exhausted the standards, I rediscovered this book on the library shelf. Whereas I found it sweet and amusing the first time, it now resonated with truths I couldn't have understood before becoming pregnant, and made me wish that Suzanne Finnamore was my best friend. This book is a delightful read for anyone, but for an expectant mom, this book is a treasure she'll want to read again and again.

Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: The Zygote Chronicles

Copyright © by Jennifer Santiago, 2003

Reviewed by Jennifer Santiago:
-- The Lovely Bones - by Alice Sebold
-- 30 Minute Meals - by Rachael Ray
-- Raising Blaze - by Debra Ginsberg
-- Backpack - by Emily Barr
-- You Are Not a Stranger Here - by Adam Haslett
-- Bookends - by Jane Green
-- A Confederacy of Dunces - by John Kennedy Toole
-- Ash Wednesday - by Ethan Hawke
-- All Saints' Day - by Brent Benoit
-- The Stepford Wives - by Ira Levin
-- The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating - by David M. Buss
-- Literary New Orleans - by Judy Long (Editor)
-- The Sopranos Family Cookbook - by Allen Rucker; Recipes by Michele Scicolone
-- Atonement - by Ian McEwan
-- The Crimson Petal and the White - by Michel Faber
-- Midnight Bayou - by Nora Roberts
-- The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - by Ann Brashares
-- The Zygote Chronicles - by Suzanne Finnamore
-- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - by J.K. Rowling









Home ------- All the Reviews