Official Review: Emer's Baby by EM Commins

Melissa Breen · Post by **Melissa Breen** » 16 Mar 2020, 12:18

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Emer's Baby" by EM Commins.]

1 out of 4 stars

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It’s 1968, and a young woman named Carmel leaves her family home in Ireland and sets off for London to get a job in the bustling city. She stays with her mother’s old friend Sissy Malone, a hard spoken and formidable woman with warped views of her own omnipotence. Her religious intensity and her fanatical convictions are about to change Carmel’s life forever.

Carmel herself is meek and amenable, so when Sissy comes to her with a plot to steal a 24-week-old baby that is due to be aborted in the clinic in which Carmel works, Carmel doesn’t put up much of an argument. 16-year-old Irish teenager Emer Regan travels to London from Ireland for an abortion that has been forced onto her by her parents. She undergoes her abortion and returns home, having no idea that Sissy and Carmel revived the baby and brought him home to raise him as though he is Carmel’s son.

Emer’s Baby by EM Commins is an intense tale of kidnap, assault and trickery, yet it is written like a family drama and this is what I liked least about it. It was a strange and unnerving juxtaposition of plot and style. As an Irish woman, what I liked most about this book was the use of Irish slang and phrases throughout the dialogue; they reminded me of my childhood, when they were used more commonly.

I rate this book a 1 out of 4. It was poorly edited, and the chapter lengths were quite inconsistent. The narrative point of view constantly shifted between characters without notice, even in the middle of paragraphs. There were a lot of typos too. As for the content, I would have preferred a more open conversation within the book, addressing the emotions that all these characters went through when this traumatic incident occurred.

As someone who grew up in Ireland, I know first-hand how much abortion has been a hot button and divisive issue in our society, so I was excited to read a historical fiction book on the subject, but I was disappointed. While the book accurately portrayed the outward nature of Ireland at the time, I feel the author avoided the inner turmoil of the subject matter and was uninterested in exploring beyond the surface level of the issues the story raised, leaving them unresolved. For this reason, along with the disjointed editing and poor syntax, I feel this book deserved a 1 instead of a 2.

I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone who could be upset by topics such as abortion, physical abuse or child abuse. I also wouldn’t recommend this book to children as it deals with very sensitive topics. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a small glimpse into what life was like for Irish women in the recent past, and everything they endured thanks to the Irish culture of staying quiet.

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Emer's Baby
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Cynthia_Oluchi · Post by **Cynthia_Oluchi** » 23 Mar 2020, 21:36

Thanks for the heads on. I thought I would get more information about how an aborted child could be revived, but I do not want to be disappointed. Thanks for the review.

Kristy Khem · Post by **Kristy Khem** » 23 Mar 2020, 23:05

This book surely has an interesting plot. I do agree with you, experiences like those mentioned are sure to have an emotional impact and the author should have included that. I'm sorry the book disappointed you and that it had so many errors. Thanks for writing an honest review!

Laurina Michael Olowoniran · 24 Mar 2020, 05:30

It sounds like a story that would have been wonderful if properly written and edited. Thinking about it, how would a person feel if she gets to know that her aborted baby was later revived? Scared? angry? Betrayed? Beautiful review.

Ogoskino · Post by **Ogoskino** » 25 Mar 2020, 07:41

Thanks for your honest review. It is really frustrating to read a boom that has editing problems among others.

Salma_asa · Post by **Salma_asa** » 25 Mar 2020, 11:08

The plot sounds engaging but after seeing your rating, I may pass this book. Your review was great!

White_Nights · Post by **White_Nights** » 26 Mar 2020, 11:21

The plot sound too unrealistic for me, especially the part with 24-weeks baby being aborted. At that pint it is too late to do that, and even if that happened, how it will survive? What about registration and so on? Thank you for the review so i can skip this book.