Stolen from Her Mother: An utterly heartbreaking World War Two page-turner set between Ireland and America Paperback – 18 Jan. 2022

I loved this book from the first sentence to the last. The story is set in Ireland during the war. We meet Carol, and lives in America and is desperate to have a baby. Then there is Kate in Ireland who lives with her parents on their farm. Kate’s father suffers ill health from injuries in the first world war. Kate’s mother a strict Catholic. We learn about the strictness of the Nuns in the Convent where unmarried girls go. Their lives and those of their babies is cruel and harsh. I sobbed at the treatment these girls and their babies are subject to. The story brings Kate and Carol together in time, but i won’t spoil anyone’s enjoyment of this wonderful story, which brings more tears in my case. I can thoroughly recommend this book. Another interesting and heartrending read by Rachel Wesson

I couldnt put down this page turner,you felt when reading this story you knew each person ,the heartbreak for all the leading characters, a wonderful book to read ,

Loved it

Very much enjoyed this book. A child born out of wedlock. How can people be so cruel? But still are !

I enjoyed this book immensely. It is sad but written wonderfully

This book was so good but very sad. When we say the good old days this kind of thing comes to mind. How strong the women had to be. Thank God we don’t have to be today. Brilliant author very full story with an ending that wasn’t rolled up in the last pages which most book are.I have purchased a second book look forward to starting in shortly

Another great book from Rachel Wasson. Always the master storyteller and this will not disappoint. Kate's mother wants her to be a nun, but Kate wants to escape and wants freedom to live her life how she wishes. After a whirlwind romance with an American airman, Tony, Kate finds that she is pregnant soon after Tony is forced to go home. Her family is horrified and she is shunned by her family she is sent to a home for unmarried mothers.Kate experiences all that is shameful of the past within the Roman Catholic Church. Surviving on little food, working as little more than a slave while beaten, berated and experiencing no sympathy or compassion. And just when you think they cannot bear anything further, there is worse to come.Once you start reading this book, you won’t want to put it down until you have finished. But don’t forget the tissues!

Rachel Wesson is one of my favourite authors and this book did not disappoint. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the whole book. Very well written to the point you are transported into the story. One minute you are smiling and the next there's a lump in your throat and tears in your eyes. An eye opening insight as to how unmarried mothers bearing a child out of wedlock were harshly treated by both their family and friends and the church it's so hard to take in the cruelty administered in these mother and baby homes. I'm not condemning all clergy as with the bad there is always good. Congratulations on another fantastic book Rachel.

Wow! What a powerful story. Shame on Ireland and shame on the Catholic Church for treating these unwed mothers as criminals. The cruel and inhumane treatment is not much better than that of the people put in concentration camps by the Nazi's. Surviving on very little food, working all day, being berated, slapped and beaten for even speaking. Their children taken away and sold to rich American's and Englishmen. Then they have the nerve to say if the girls cannot pay the large amount to buy their freedom than they have to work for three years at the home for unwed mothers to pay for their care for the time they are there before and after delivering their child. Some perish and never leave. The babies that don't make it are buried out back in unmarked graves with no funeral. Some of the girls are very young and there because of rape or incest but they are still treated as criminals, absolutely no sympathy or compassion. The thing I found the hardest to believe is that they were put there by their families who shunned them.Kate is a loving daughter with a loving father and an overbearing mother with a sympathy for the Nazi's. Kate works on her parent's farm with her brother Joe, the rest of the children already have escaped to the cities. Kate's mother wishes her to be a nun, Kate wants to escape and wants freedom to live her life how she wishes.Kate is a dutiful daughter and does as she is told. When her Uncle asks for her help in another village her father agrees to let her go for a month to help out. It's there that she meets an American airman tony and falls in love. They plan to be married when Tony returns after the war is over. Soon after Tony leaves she finds she is to have his child. When her Uncle finds out he is horrified. She is shunned by the village and a kind priest goes home with her to talk to her parents. Her parents shun her as well and she is sent to the home for unwed mothers and her mother refuses to have anything further to do with her. Eventually she has a little girl and calls her Eva.Meanwhile in America a young couple, a doctor and his wife Josh and Carol are reeling after a car accident causes Carol to have a miscarriage and lose their child. When she finds out she can have no further children she is devastated. After having a breakdown she is sent to an asylum by her mother in law for treatment. It is all a misunderstanding and should never have happened, but it did. This causes the couple to be turned down for adoption. A Priest who is a friend of Josh tells him of the unwed mothers home in Ireland and how he can adopt a child in return for a very sizable donation to the church. Josh adopts Eva.Kate has no say in this and is totally devastated that her daughter is gone and she has no way of finding out where she has been taken or who the adoptive parents are. Now Kate has to find a way to escape from the unwed mothers home and search for her daughter. Will she succeed and will she ever find her daughter?This story is one of the most heartbreaking stories I have ever read. I cried for Kate and for Gwen and for the other mothers in the story. I do recommend this story.Thanks to Rachel Wesson for writing a great story, to Bookouture for publishing it and to NetGalley for making it available for me to read.

Such a heartbreaking story of love and loss. Beautifully written, kept me wanting to read more. Such a captivating, if tragic, story.

Much has already been written in reviews, so what can I add beside I absolutely loved the story, the writing, and the author’s heart—what vividly moves the story at a breathtaking pace. What especially struck me about the story, which for me was the other half of Sixsmith’s Philomena, was where Philomena fell short, Wesson dug in. Into the convent with no detail spared on the evil that lurked behind false facades presented to the general public. Money screamed from the pages, the ultimate driving force that choses who lives with the halves and who dwells in the caves of the half-nots. A deeper look into the political and societal issues in Ireland during the second WW2 and the savage way unwed mothers were treated was heartbreaking. Division lines drawn between a mother and daughter, a fundamental lack of compassion, stemmed from indoctrinated religious beliefs. But even in the alleys of religious zealots live the hearts of kings and queens. Wesson, shows us beautiful royalty in the kindness of heart in the characters she brilliantly cast to highlight the evildoers, the protagonists. So distinct is the black and white between good and evil that when a brother opts for a loving act to help his sister, I wanted to jump up and scream. I equally wanted to cry when I read a mother’s letter to her dead son’s fiancé. All that and so much more. This magnificent story has left a lingering gratitude in my heart that benevolent people exist doing simple and not-so-simple acts of kindness and that is what shines a light on the madness that at times feels overwhelming. A heartfelt bravo and thank you to Rachel Wesson for a brilliantly written story!

Thank you Rachel, for this eye opening story. I'm an Aussie but Ireland is my favourite place to visit. I've read true stories of the poverty & sadness in Ireland in early the years, but the Irish are by far the most friendliest people I've met despite their horrific memories of the past. As you've described with your character Kate, you never give up. A very good read.

Good book. 2 story lines. One is the Anderson family in North Carolina and the other in Kate Ryan’s family in Ireland. So sad what Kate had to deal with in the convent. In the end all of my questions are answered. A bit slow at times, but the pace picks up rapidly towards the end. Great characters. Some happy and heart breaking moments.