Not Yours to Keep

A Novel

By: Zelly Ruskin

Narrated by: Jess Wright, Carrie Brewer, Jason Lasky

2024 Best Book Awards Winner in Best New Fiction

2024 American Fiction Awards Winner in Mystery/Suspense: General

2024 Zibby Awards Winner: Best Family Drama Category

Called a “sensational debut” by Rea Frey, this psychological thriller delves into themes of reproductive rights and healthcare, confronting the complexities that define family—or the risks that lose it all.

Billie Campbell, a Massachusetts adoption specialist grappling with fertility issues, dreams of adopting a baby, but not just any baby—her pregnant client’s baby. While her longing threatens to send her down a dark path, her husband, Tyler, is keeping secrets: he’s full of doubts about becoming a father, and he’s also trying to figure out who is sending him upsetting anonymous texts and photos. On the other side of town, Anne, a woman scarred by childhood abuse, obsesses with a second chance at becoming a family with the two people she regrets ever having let go of: the baby she gave up for adoption twenty years ago, and the man of her dreams. Their lives get tangled when the client’s newborn is abducted, and Billie becomes a prime suspect. Amid the chaos unleashed by the abduction, Tyler uncovers a link between the person tormenting him and the abduction—but now Billie has disappeared too. The race to find both her and the baby is on; but will they find them before it’s too late?

©2024 Zelly Ruskin (P)2024 She Writes Press

Such a great view on the emotions surrounding adoption

Not yours to keep:

This story really shows the different sides of infertility and adoption well. Seeing people make the choice and being happy with it while also seeing how it can affect people who had that choice made for them. The mental health struggles for everyone involved and how some things can cause such a trickle effect. At the same time it shows how we can build our family in such different ways. It also shows how childhood trauma can be unseen but cause some big issues later on. Everything about this book kept me interested. It kept me sucked in and really helped see all the sides to a story. For a debut novel this was excellent. I respect anyone who does the social worker job esp in the adoption scene.