The Secret Daughter by Kelly Rimmer

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review....

Meet Sabina, a 38 year old teacher who is happily married to Ted when she discovers that she is pregnant and is over the moon.  Sabina and Ted can't wait to tell their parents but this is where the news is not received very well by Sabina's parents.  At first, Sabina is confused and assumes that her mother, Megan is just not happy with the news and is worried for her as she has had many failed pregnancies and would not wish the same for her own flesh and blood.  As Sabina presses Megan for answers about her own pregnancy it is then revealed that Sabina was adopted when she was born from a maternity home in a rural town several hours from Sydney.  Sabina's carefully constructed world comes crashing down instantly and everything she believed to be true is about to be questioned.  As Sabina presses her mother and father for answers it causes a rift between everyone and Sabina decides to take the step on how to go about searching for her birth mother but it’s not as easy as she thought and her parents are not helping with their lies.  Will the adoption agency have the information that Sabina needs?  Will she find her birth mother?  Will she discover that she has another family waiting for her?

This was a very bittersweet, emotional, sensitive and heart-warming read, the story flows well throughout the book. It is based on true events surrounding forced adoption in Australia in the 70's.  I really enjoyed Kelly's book which I read in a couple days, it kept me turning the pages until the very end.   This story had it all a little bit of humor, love, family, loss, protectiveness to more sensitive and hard-hitting issues - I found I had a little tear in my eye at the end along with shedding a few along the way, so grab this book, curl up on the couch and prepare to have a few lump in your throat moments too.  It definitely didn't disappoint.

This is Kelly's second novel, her first been Me Without You which  was published back in June 2014, and is one that I haven't yet had the chance to read, but I'm certain that after my experience with The Secret Daughter, I will definitely have to get around to reading it and I'm really looking forward to reading more from Kelly.

The Secret Daughter is available on kindle and is currently only £1.99 at the time of the publication of this review.