Dreams tie women together in ‘Then Came You’ by Jennifer Weiner

In Jennifer Weiner’s latest novel, “Then Came You,” a cast of characters share a common goal of making a dream come true — only each dream is as different as the women themselves.

Four women, four separate lives, but all become intertwined when the quest for money, happiness and a baby collide.

Princeton senior Jules Wildgren dreams of making enough money to help her dad go to rehab for his addiction. Pennsylvania housewife Annie Barrow is desperate to keep her family financially afloat. Newlywed India Bishop yearns to have a child, an urge that her stepdaughter Bettina can only regard with deep skepticism and disdain until she finds herself in a most unexpected situation.

The common denominator with these women involves a baby, but the pathway to the birth of this child is a complicated one.

Jules decides to donate her eggs to a fertility clinic, which pays her an astonishing amount of money, but she soon finds herself wondering who will be the recipient of her donation and what will the child be like.

Annie Barrow seeks to solve her family’s financial crisis with the one thing she knows she is good at — by offering herself as a surrogate mother to a wealthy couple. But her husband’s contempt for her endeavor makes Annie wonder if she is doing the right thing, until she meets the mother-to-be of the child she is carrying and realizes that she is helping someone's dream come true.

India Bishop is a self-made woman and is proud of her accomplishments. She is also proud of her marriage to millionaire Marcus Croft. She finally has all she has wanted, except for one thing — a baby. So after repeated IVF failures, India and Marcus make the decision to use a surrogate, never realizing that events in their lives would change so drastically that the one thing India wants most will be the last thing she needs in her life. And she finds herself turning to her bitter stepdaughter Bettina for help.

Bettina Croft has been wary of her stepmother since the day her father introduced them to each other. She is protective of her father and only wants what’s best for him, but is she prepared to take on an unexpected challenge involving India that will turn her life upside down?

Weiner is a true artist at crafting stories that captures her readers' attention. “Then Came You” is no exception. With the ease of a master storyteller, Weiner directs her characters through a fascinating story told through the voices of four remarkable women, weaving their stories together for a surprising, but satisfying conclusion.