All the Acorns on the Forest Floor

Alex and Jake are delighted they’re pregnant – until they learn the child is at risk for Lou Gehrig’s disease. Dina, a childless Labor and Delivery nurse, daydreams about stealing a baby from her floor. Alyssa Delgado is distraught her English professor fathered her unborn child and arranges an adoption. Kim Hooper’s All the Acorns on the Forest Floor weaves a complex web of heartbreak to promote contemporary motherhood. Although most of her protagonists desire children, not all of them achieve – or are allowed to achieve – their goal. Hooper may very well achieve hers, however. Her unconventional plot challenges what it means to be a modern woman.

Unlike stereotypical would-be moms, none of Hooper’s protagonists are religious. They’re all independent, and most have successful careers. They represent diverse backgrounds. And yet these empowered women feel empty without children. While several prefer biological children, others adopt. Some try IVF or even use egg donors. Not every woman in Acorns wants a child, however, and these alternative characters expand the novel’s relevance. Hooper invites us to imagine modern women who embrace motherhood – even obsess over it – without forcing us to become them. But whether we empathize or only sympathize with Acorn’s yearning mothers, Hooper’s point is unmistakable: A woman’s right to choose works both ways.