*This is the first recommendation from Goodreads Recommendations that I actually liked. Thanks, goodreads, finally.
This starts in 1946 in a college town in Pennsylvania, where a matron of the home economics department falls in love with one of her practice babies (students "practiced" child-rearing on babies from the orphanage). This was interesting as you saw the result this had on Henry, the practice baby. I really like the first half of this book. I didn't know whether Henry was going to end up damaged or going nuts because of his unstable early years (being passed from one "mother" to the other,) and/or because of the smothering way the matron, Martha, handled him once she adopted him.

The story switches focus to Henry, through his high school years and then his early adult years. The writing was good through-out, but the story lost focus, as Henry goes through many different episodes, and women, in his life. It got Forrest-Gump syndrome: too many things happening, meeting famous people, traveling all around. I thought the story should've ended when Martha dies (not a spoiler, she got old), but it just went on and on, and some readers will criticize this. I really liked it though, due to the good writing and developed characters.