The Making of Her

April 5, 2022
The Making of Her is a historical family drama that immediately conjures the sense of a time not so long ago. Spanning the 1960s to the 1990s, this cross between Jodi Picoult and Monica McInerney examines the decisions of several women across generations and asks readers to imagine what they themselves might do if faced with an impossible choice. Joan, the perfect housewife, grew up in poverty and couldn’t believe her luck when heir Martin Egan noticed her. Thirty years on, their carefully constructed life is distant, cold and full of secrets. When a letter from Emma, the baby they adopted out, suddenly arrives, Joan is thrilled and Martin is alarmed. But Emma has her own reasons for making contact, and her appearance threatens to shatter everything Joan and Martin have built. The Making of Her unravels Joan’s story and those of her daughters: Emma, the one she lost, and Carmel, the one she couldn’t connect with. While the shifts in perspective sometimes get muddled and the ending feels a little pat, Bernadette Jiwa’s novel is full of empathy and deep understanding for the lack of opportunities for women in an earlier time. Full of the pain of heartbreaking choices and the weight of secrets and how they reverberate through time, The Making of Her is an evocative and engaging story about the ways a family can come apart—and the ways it can be mended. Fay Helfenbaum is a freelance writer and editor and was a bookseller for five years.