FAQ

Then She Found Me is a 1990 novel by American writer Elinor Lipman. The novel was adapted for the movie by Alice Arlen, Victor Levin, and Helen Hunt, who also directs and stars in the movie.

Those who have both seen the movie and read the book say that the movie and book are quite dissimilar. The basic plot is the same: Bernice (Bette Midler) wants to find the daughter she gave up at birth. Daughter April (Helen Hunt), a introvert who leads a relatively sterile life, is skeptical about meeting her biological mother but agrees to do it. The story then centers around their attempts to establish a relationship and April learning to open up to herself and to others. Beyond that, much of the details and many of the characters and situations have been changed. For example, Bernice of the novel is annoying, needy, and lies a lot more than Bernice of the movie. April of the novel is younger, teaches high school Latin, has never been married, and has no desire to have children of her own. April of the movie teaches elementary school, longs for a child, and was recently left by husband Ben (Matthew Broderick). April's new boyfriend Frank (Colin Firth) is the father of one of April's students in the movie, and this new love interest gets complicated when Ben shows up again. In the book, there is no Ben or Frank. There is a minor romance with a bachelor school librarian but he has no children. Finally, there is no pregnancy in the novel, nor does her biological father show up.

It's part of Oh, the Places You'll Go!, a book by the American author of children's stories, Dr Seuss [real name: Theodor Seuss Geisel], published in 1990, a year before his death.

It was awkward because April still felt a physical attraction to him and was about to give in to it. However, in their hurried rush to satisfy their lust, Ben had ejaculated in the excitement of it all. Presumably his pants were wet as a result and that is why he was acting the way he was as he crawled out of the car and tried to cover himself up. April said "Really" because she couldn't or didn't want to believe he had actually "finished" before they even got started.

It was a Jewish adage in which a father was teaching his little son to be less afraid, to have more courage. "Jump!", he said, "and I'll catch you." And the little boy trusted him, and the little boy jumped. And when his father caught him, he felt filled with love. And when he didn't, he was filled with something else, something more—Life.