Another rainy day here in Providence...but happily another good early review for THE RED THREAD!

BOOKLIST

Advanced Review ? Uncorrected Proof
Issue: March 15, 2010


The Red Thread.
Hood, Ann (Author)
May 2010. 256 p. Norton, hardcover, $23.95. (9780393070200).
Hood?s latest engaging novel is a timely exploration of the adoption process, specifically the adoption of
Chinese girls by five couples in Providence, Rhode Island, brought together by Maya and her Red Thread
Adoption Agency. One by one, Hood introduces each couple: there?s a compulsive investment banker and
her consultant husband; a social do-gooder and her immature husband who still pines for an ex-girlfriend;
Maya?s friend Emily, who longs for her own daughter, tired of vying with her stepdaughter for her
husband?s affection; an ex-baseball player who fears losing his wife?s love and attention to the new
adoptee; and a mismatched couple with their own mentally challenged daughter whom the wife struggles
to love. Maya is an upbeat ringleader who believes every child is connected by a red thread to those fated
to play a part in his or her destiny. Hood intersperses the stories of these diverse couples with the sad
stories of five Chinese babies slated for adoption, resulting in part soap opera, part enlightening look at
contemporary adoptions, and an altogether entertaining read.