Stranger by David Bergen

Stranger is about the universal and fierce love that comes with motherhood. It is also a timely political novel. Set in a not-too-distant future, it is the tale of Iso, a young woman employed at a Guatemalan fertility clinic, situated on the shores of a peaceful mountain lake. Recently, barren women from the U.S. have been coming to the clinic with the hope that dipping into the healing waters will help them to conceive.

Iso is a keeper. Her job is to be what the clinic’s founder calls igual, present but invisible to the infertile women in their sadness and hope.

After falling in love with an American doctor, Iso finds herself pregnant with his child. When the baby is taken from her at birth, Iso embarks on a life-and-death journey to find her child. She knows now that what her wise uncle once told her is true. “She had been attracted to an object of beauty, she had become spellbound, and then its shape had changed and what appeared to be beautiful had turned ugly.”

The novel provides a subtle examination of consumer culture, poverty, and illegal immigration. The story is plot-driven and well-paced, unfolding with just enough detail at every turn to keep the reader wanting to turn another page. An unsettling tale with a satisfying conclusion. Available now in Canada and at amazon.ca, it will be published in the U.S. this summer. (HarperCollins Canada)