R.J Hoffmann Explores Power Through Family Relationships in "Other People's Children"
Could a baby ruin a family? Gail and Jon are a couple that always wanted to have a baby, but none of the trying succeeds. After all the emotional damage Gail suffered from the miscarries, they decide to enter into the adoption process to have an opportunity to finally get everything they wanted. When Carli, a pregnant teen, accepts their profile, all look to fall into place. But these don't last long, as Marla, Carli's mother, is determined to disturb the process.
In R.J. Hoffmann's debut novel, motherhood is put at proof, as the author constructs a narrative that explores the limits of family, love, and control.
Other People's Children focus his narrative on the characters and their relationship to their families, especially their mothers. Gail wants very hard to be a mom, in contrast to her relationship with her mother, which is not good. Jon lost contact with his mother since he was a child, and this a delicate subject for him. Marla doesn't give much love to Carli and her sister and is considered a bad mother in her daughter's point of view. Even Paige, the social worker, struggled to become a mother.
All the plot lines of the novel look to revolve around the same questions. What it's like to be a good mother? Who is ready to be a mother? The story leads the reader to question which family would be best for the baby and if we should really risk all to achieve something that we want.
As the narrative has multiple points of view, Gail, Jon, Carli, Paige, Marla, and some other characters got their visions at alternate chapters, it is possible to have access to different sides of the story, understanding in a profound way the motivations of each of them.
This dynamic makes the narrative move fast, as the change of tone never leaves the book in a place of stillness. It also helps to see different actions happening at the same time, giving the sensation that I could reach every point of those situations.
Getting further through the novel, other questions Hoffmann wants to work with start to emerge. Class and mental health are additional themes that appear in the narrative, and those themes contribute to creating a more complex background.
Carli and her family are poor and this was a motive for Marla to not give much attention to the kids, as she needed to work on multiple jobs to raise her daughters. Jon's mother had a mental illness that made her abandon her son, and the relationship with her affects Jon's parenthood. All debouch at the dynamics that the plot constructs. The author forms a brave book that confronts subjects that can be hard to face, leaving doubts for the reader and provocative thoughts.
"No matter what we do, we'll have regrets, she said. It's really just a question of what we'll regret the least."
Especially in the second half, Other People's Children made me think about the misogyny way our society believes that every woman is born to be a mother, getting us to obsess on the possibility of having or not having a child. The pressure women face choosing each one of these possibilities is well worked, as Gail and Carli struggle through the process.
These two characters are the opposite archetypes of being a mother. Carli, as the teen with no financial stability, seeing as a terrible mom from the beginning, and Gail, the woman that has everything but a child, will receive the pity look from her friends as she gets old, losing the chance of her life.
Hoffman constructs the narrative in a way that forces the reader to choose sides and deals with all of these ideas of what is right, who is better, and what is the right way to raise a child, even if those questions don't have easy answers.
The book shows the strength of a story led by the characters, where their actions frame the narrative outcomes. Their feelings are the basis of the tensions and conflicts; in a universe where they need to believe that their hearts and minds are guiding the right way.
"She had let those expectations harden until there was no bend left in them. Brittle blades break so easily"
Hoffman's novel plays with the borders of right and wrong, blurring those limits. He uses the human necessity of control to question how far someone can go, to have power over a situation or other people.
As Other People's Children use family relations to evoke power, hate, love, insecurity, it becomes clear how far those relationships reach our emotions, shaping our futures. This book proves that stories working with human connections will never get old and how we can change in the most challenging moments.
Other People’s Children
R.J Hoffmann
384 page. 2021
About Inês Alves
Inês Alves is a Brazilian communication student and writer, trying to navigate the world. Has a passion for books and reality shows, so it's always talking about one of those subjects. Believes that writing can help to build a revolution in society and wants to be part of it. Find her on Instagram at @inesilvalvess.
