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Being Lara

April 18, 2012 by Nancy

Lara Reid is relatively happy with her life – job she loves, caring boyfriend, parents who love her. On her 30th birthday, a decades-old wish is granted when her birth mother Yomi appears, but Lara finds it’s a wish she no longer desires and her whole life is thrown into disarray. She pulls away from everyone – Tyler, her boyfriend who is getting too close, Pat and Barry, her adoptive parents, and especially Yomi, the birth mother she’s yearned for but stopped expecting.

As a child Lara felt like an alien with nothing in common with her parents, including skin color. Time and again she’s disappointed that her birth mum doesn’t come visit, until her 10th birthday when her dad, meaning well but a bit misguided, tells Lara that the “Lady” is coming to visit. This unwittingly sets a precedent that cascades through Lara’s life as she waits for her birth mum to come. She develops OCD behaviors and is unable to grow close to the men she dates, confiding only in her best friend, who grew up in foster homes.

Being Lara moves back and forth in time, following Lara, both as a child and an adult, as she tries to figure out who she is; Yomi’s life in Nigeria, where she’s forced into marriage then gives up her daughter for reasons that are not clear until the end of the book, and Pat, who tastes fame with a hit single and finds herself involved with the orphanage that is Lara’s home for the first few years of her life.

Lara struggles with Yomi’s presence in her life, but becomes close with Yomi’s mother, who’s traveled to England with her to meet the granddaughter she only recently learned existed. At the same time Lara is dealing with her birth mother, Pat decides to patch things up with her own mother, estranged for many years.

Yomi’s appearance pushes Lara to confront her abandonment issues, causing her to open up and let those who love her in. I enjoy watching characters grow, and Lara’s progression, along with descriptions of life in Nigeria in the 70s and 80s, makes Being Lara a book I recommend.

Please leave a comment if you’d like to win (U.S. only). We’ll announce the winner in our giveaway column on May 2. This giveaway is closed.

The winner of These Girls is #20 Anita Yancey.

Don’t miss a thing: Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed or video reviews on YouTube. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter or on Facebook.

Filed Under: Fiction, Nancy

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Comments

  1. Brooke says

    April 18, 2012 at 7:33 am

    Sounds like a good read. Please enterme.

  2. Sandra K321 says

    April 18, 2012 at 9:32 am

    I would enjoy reading this. Thanks.
    seknobloch(at)gmail(dot)com

  3. Ellie says

    April 18, 2012 at 11:45 am

    Many thanks for this lovely giveaway.

  4. June says

    April 18, 2012 at 12:50 pm

    Sounds like a sad but good book.

  5. Liz says

    April 18, 2012 at 2:00 pm

    A sad, but hopeful, book. Thanks for giveaway.

  6. Joyness Sparkles says

    April 18, 2012 at 2:03 pm

    Wow…this story seems much like my own life with my biological father in some ways.

    I would love to read this story and compare. 🙂

  7. Van says

    April 18, 2012 at 4:06 pm

    This book really sounds good.

  8. Cindi says

    April 18, 2012 at 5:40 pm

    I like the mixing of the time periods and
    childhood/adulthood!
    Many thanks, Cindi

  9. Beth C says

    April 19, 2012 at 9:55 am

    The first thing that attracted me to this book was the title. My son had a girlfriend once named Lara and I thought that was such a pretty name! Love to read this. Thank!
    pbclark(at)netins(dot)net

  10. Don says

    April 19, 2012 at 12:52 pm

    Would like to read, still trying to understand OCD.

  11. Lori says

    April 19, 2012 at 6:19 pm

    What a wonderful sounding book to read.

  12. Barb says

    April 20, 2012 at 8:35 am

    That mother-daughter relationship is always so confusing. Add the feeling of abandonment and — oh boy — there’s a lot to work with. Sounds like a very interesting book.

  13. Dianne says

    April 20, 2012 at 12:19 pm

    Thanks for the giveaway of this book. SOund intersting

  14. Garrett says

    April 20, 2012 at 1:29 pm

    Sounds like a good book.

  15. Angela E. says

    April 21, 2012 at 11:39 am

    This book sounds so good, please enter me!

  16. Staci A says

    April 21, 2012 at 5:39 pm

    I would love to read this. It sounds like such an interesting book!

  17. Linda Kish says

    April 21, 2012 at 11:27 pm

    This sounds like a very interesting story. One that I would love to read.

    lkish77123 at gmail dot com

    • Nancy says

      May 1, 2012 at 10:47 pm

      Linda, you won! Please reply to this email with your mailing address and we’ll pass it on.

  18. Chuck says

    April 22, 2012 at 3:03 pm

    sounds really good.

  19. Bethsportsmomma says

    April 22, 2012 at 7:46 pm

    This looks like a great book!

  20. Natalia says

    April 22, 2012 at 8:00 pm

    Would like to win.

  21. Jeff says

    April 23, 2012 at 2:36 pm

    I know my wife would enjoy reading this great book.

  22. Stephanie says

    April 24, 2012 at 8:25 pm

    This sounds fascinating! I’d love a copy.

  23. Elaine says

    April 26, 2012 at 5:24 pm

    As the mom of an adopted son who met his birth mother at 20, I always enjoy books about reunions.

  24. Britney says

    April 29, 2012 at 3:28 am

    Sounds wonderful…would love to win!

  25. karenk says

    April 29, 2012 at 5:47 am

    thanks for the chance to read this story 🙂

  26. samantha w says

    April 29, 2012 at 10:55 am

    Sounds like an interesting read

  27. Angela Calvert says

    April 29, 2012 at 6:15 pm

    Would love to win! Thanks for the giveaway!

  28. Angie says

    April 29, 2012 at 10:51 pm

    i’m adopted and this sounds really nice! thanks for the chance!

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