As I saw my new-born baby’s face for the first time I tried desperately to capture her face in my mind—to stamp it onto my eyelids. As she was taken from me I knew I might never see my daughter again.
38 years later…
‘You were adopted’. Three short words and Sabina’s life fractures. There would forever be a Before those words, and an After.
Pregnant with her own child, Sabina can’t understand how a mother could abandon her daughter, or why her parents have kept the past a secret.
Determined to find the woman who gave her away, what she discovers will change everything, not just for Sabina, but for the women who have loved her all these years.
From the bestselling author of Me Without You comes another touching, beautifully told story about the pain of separation and the enduring strength of love.
Author: Kelly Rimmer
Title: The Secret Daughter
Publishers: Bookouture
Publication Date: 18th June 2015
Link: Amazon
My Review
Sabina Baxter and her husband Ted couldn't be happier since finding out that they were expecting a baby. However when Sabina announces the pregnancy to her parents she doesn't get the reaction she expected and instead she receives a huge shock when her mother tells her that she was adopted. She tries to find out some more details about her real parents but her adoptive parents act very furtively and deny knowing anything. This causes Sabina a great deal of upset and frustration and the book follows her journey as she begins to unearth the secrets that have surrounded her birth.
The book also travels back in time to Lilly who is an unwed mother-to-be who has been dispatched to a home for unmarried mothers. She desperately writes letters to her boyfriend in the hope that he will rescue her and they will be able to bring up their baby.
The book describes very well the feeling of hopelessness and raw emotional pain that the young women felt, some of whom wanted to keep their babies and some who didn't. It was also very interesting to see the different points of view of the biological mother, the adoptive mother and the baby at the centre of it all. You could actually feel empathy for the adoptive parents on hearing the reasons behind their decisions but at the same time feel anger and resentment for their unforgivable actions. The biological mother's pain was palpable and the trauma she suffered was harrowing.
Although this is a work of fiction there were many forced adoptions carried out during the time mentioned which have impacted so many lives.
I really enjoyed the book and felt immersed in the heartbreak, frustration and joy that was felt by the characters.
Sincerely
Book Angel x
About the Author
When my childhood friends grew out of make-believe games, I realised that I’d have to become a writer (or join the real world with them, but that seemed far too dull).
Several decades later, I live in rural Australia with my husband Daniel and our two young children, and when I’m not reading, writing, or daydreaming about reading and writing, I have one of those unfathomable IT jobs which no one outside of the industry really knows about.
Click here to read a Q & A with Kelly Rimmer.
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