Jane, Jill, and Katie are in a difficult situation. Jill is pregnant and none of them know how to be a parent. Jill's pregnancy is rocky as the father more or less takes off and she does not have the easiest time of it. She knows she is lucky she can lean on her two best friends. When baby Atlas arrives, the three quickly learn how to balance caring for the baby and babysitting between the three of them. Their little system is working well until the baby's father comes back into their lives and upsets the delicate balance the three friends have maintained.

What does it take to be a mother? Which qualities make one a child's real mother? These are the difficult questions Laurie Frankel does not so much attempt to answer, but rather to guide the reader through and let the reader decide for themselves. The narrator, Janey, is a bit annoying as she gives in to Jill's ridiculous demands and childish actions much too easily. Katie could be a stronger character as well. It is Janey who is the backbone of this unique family. The situations dealt with by each of the characters are emotional and trying to everyone, including the reader. THE ATLAS OF LOVE will pull on heart strings that many readers may not know could be pulled.

THE ATLAS OF LOVE will undoubtedly be frustrating for a reader based solely on the situations faced by the characters. The issue discussed isn't particularly easy to find an answer to and the reader will have a hard time rooting for a single character. The reader will find scenes that are aggravating, sad, happy, loving, etc... Laurie Frankel does a good job of evoking reactions from the reader. THE ATLAS OF LOVE is a read for those who enjoy touchy issues.

Book Summary

When Jill becomes both pregnant and single at the end of one spring semester, she and her two closest friends plunge into an experiment in tri-parenting, tri-schooling, and trihabitating as grad students in Seattle. Naturally, everything goes wrong, but in ways no one sees coming. Janey Duncan narrates the adventure of this modern family with hilarity and wisdom and shows how three lives are forever changed by (un)cooperative parenting, literature, and a tiny baby named Atlas who upends and uplifts their entire world. In this sparkling and wise debut novel, Frankel’s unforgettable heroines prove that home is simply where the love is.