Maybe Baby by Emma Neale

Nate waited ten years for his beloved wife Kelly to be ready to have children, so it was a bitter blow when she was diagnosed with cancer soon after, leaving him as a devastated widower too soon. But before Kelly passed, they had four embryos stored, and she made him promise to take care of them for her. ‘Our love won’t go away. It’s in the children. We’ve stored it with them.’

To say Nate is a mess after his wife’s passing is an understatement. He is utterly undone by his loss, leaving his friends and family concerned as months pass and he seems stuck in grief. But eventually, pulled by the need to honour his late wife, and to find a way to have the child they planned to create together, he reemerges into the world. But he is pulled in many directions, until he decides on something radical – to be part of a secretive, but potentially groundbreaking medical trial.

He departs Dunedin for London, but on the way, he meets an extraordinary woman whom he is drawn to – which is when life gets even more complicated, trying to honour the past, but also step into a new future.

Maybe Baby is a poignant novel with many gently humorous moments and many truly moving ones. It’s a thought-provoking read with a central male protagonist who is wrestling with life decisions that lead him to take great risks, driven by love, promises, and a desire to be a father. Compelling and surprising.

Reviewer: Karen McMillan

Bateman Books