Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster | Gallery Books for gifting me a digital ARC of this amazing novel by Laura Anthony. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!
A dual-timeline story playing out between New Jersey in 2023, and Tipperary, Ireland, in 1954. In 2023, Riley's grandmother has a rare moment of clarity in her dementia and gives Riley an Irish birth certificate for an unknown baby. Riley and her fiancé decide to go to Ireland to investigate. In 1954, Margaret Lannigan is forced to become a nun and then serve as a midwife in a home for "fallen girls."
This book will break your heart, even though we all are probably familiar with the Ireland laundries, where unmarried mothers were forced to work in abusive conditions and give up their babies. This story from the viewpoint of one of the women who did their best to help will give you hope over the horrors we humans can heap on others. The research was impeccable, the writing kept me glued, and the characters felt so real that you will hurt along with them. Highly recommended!
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