Chandra Hoffman's Bio:
Since graduating from Cornell University, Chandra has been an orphanage relief worker in Romania, a horse trainer in the Caribbean, a short order cook in a third world hospital, the director of a US adoption program and an event planner for Philadelphia's Main Line elite.
She has lived in eleven international cities and this wanderlust shaped her writing - in each novel, the setting is its own character, flavoring the story. She prefers to write about everyday scenarios, shining a light on the complexities of situations through the voices of multiple characters. Her debut novel, Chosen, uses the domestic adoption scene of Portland, Oregon as a backdrop to pose the questions "What happens when you get what you thought you wanted?" and "How far would you go if it might not be what you want anymore?"
Chandra received her MFA from Antioch University in 2007. She is now settled back in her hometown outside of Philadelphia with her husband, three young children and an ever-changing menagerie.
Chosen (Book Description):
In Chosen, a young caseworker becomes increasingly entangled in the lives of the adoptive and birth parents she represents, and who faces life-altering choices when an extortion attempt goes horribly wrong, with devastating results.
It all begins with a fantasy: the caseworker in her "signing paperwork" charcoal suit, paired with beaming parents cradling their adoptive newborn, against a fluorescent-lit delivery room backdrop. It's this blissful picture that keeps Chloe Pinter, director of The Chosen Child's domestic adoption program, happy juggling the high demands of her boss and the incessant needs of parents on both sides.
But the job that offers Chloe refuge from her turbulent personal life and Portland's winter rains soon becomes a battleground itself involving three very different couples: the Novas, college sweethearts who suffered fertility problems but are now expecting their own baby; the McAdoos, a wealthy husband and desperate wife for whom adoption is a last chance; and Jason and Penny, an impoverished couple who have nothing - except the baby everyone wants. When a child goes missing, dreams dissolve into nightmares, and everyone is forced to examine what they really want and where it all went wrong.
Told from alternating points of view, Chosen reveals the desperate nature of desire across social backgrounds and how far people will go to get the one thing they think will be the answer.
Visit Chandra's Website
Chandra's Facebook Fan Page
Chandra's Twitter Page
This book sounds good -- and what a fascinating life the author has led!
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to reading and reviewing this book and the having Chandra visit the blog site with an author guest post during her virtual book tour. :)
ReplyDelete