Monday, August 14, 2017

What Was Mine by Helen Klein Ross


I love a story in which all of the characters are sympathetic, including the villain. This is a sign of a well-written story with thoroughly developed characters. Everyone has motivations for why they do what they do. Everyone feels justified in their actions. If they didn't think they had a good enough reason, they wouldn't do it. In Helen Klein Ross's What Was Mine, every one of the characters has a perspective I can understand.

Lucy Wakefield is desperate for a baby, but infertility treatments have left her disappointed and broke. The heartbreak has also led to the dissolution of her marriage. After months of depression, Lucy determines to move on with her life and devote herself to her work. When a chance encounter with what appears to be an abandoned baby leads Lucy to become a kidnapper, her entire life changes direction dramatically. Over two decades later, we watch as Lucy's lies crumble. Through flashbacks and perspective shifts, we see how many people are affected by Lucy's reprehensible crime. We also become acquainted with Mia, the baby who is now twenty-one years old. When the truth comes to light, how will this young woman react to the person she has trusted most in the world?

I was reluctant to read this book because it just didn't sound like something I would enjoy. I thought it sounded fluffy and dramatic and a bit boring. I was wrong. Though we know from the very beginning that Lucy is caught, it somehow still reads like  a mystery. The pages turned and turned as if under their own power and I read most of this novel in just a weekend. As a mother, I thought I knew how I would feel about this book. Again, I was wrong. It was wonderful and I can't wait for you to read it.

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