My third Kerry Fisher book and I can’t get enough of her. This story was captivating from the first page……… “Six weeks. That’s all I had with you. Forty-two days. Time we throw away carelessly, wishing the days away, to Christmas, to a holiday, to the end of, to the beginning of, to when we think we will be happy. But those precious weeks formed the rest of my life, the moments I had to breathe you in, to draw you deep into my heart, to have enough of you to sustain me forever”. I couldn’t put te book down until i was done. Susie’s story was an extraordinary one. Unlike the typical tale of a young girl who fell pregnant out of wedlock and had to give up her child because she was unable to take care of the child at the time, Susie is a woman who was already married to Danny, a man most women would wish to have and also the mother of an adorable daughter, Louise. Danny being a Naval officer, is gone for fifteen months and in a series of complicated events, Susie is pregnant with another man’s child. With her mother’s help she hides the pregnancy from prying eyes and ends up in a convent to have the baby, a boy which she has to give away after birth. Susie can never tell Danny or anyone about the child and this is a secret which eats her up whole and shapes her entire life until she is old and afraid she is dying before she is pushed to open up .
I had many highs and lows when reading this book. There were times I felt that Susie should have moved on with her life and enjoyed what she had but then again, what I know about keeping secrets and how it can swallow you whole. I have come to learn that it is difficult for most women who give their children up for adoption to live with the decision they made even if it was for the best interest of the child. I had never really thought about it from that point of view and I was touched by the emotions that the author was able express through her writing to send this message across. However, Susie’s constant state of melancholy robbed her husband and two daughters of experiencing having a wife and mother who was actually mentally and emotionally present and all this was because of a child she couldn’t keep, she couldn’t speak about but she loved.
My favorite character was Shona, the woman who adopted Adam, Susie’s son and my favorite conversation in this story is I quote, “How can I say no? Adam was a gift to me. A privilege, not a possession. She grabbed my hand. Don’t hurt him. I don’t love him any less because I didn’t give birth to him. I’ll do anything for him. Anything. How lucky my brother had been to have this lovely woman for a mother”. Unlike Kerry Fisher’s other titles I have read which are really witty and entertaining, ‘The Secret Child‘ is a book with a more serious theme that addresses parenting, marriage and life choices. I really enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it to everyone. Do get a copy. Enjoy…….
Published: November, 2017 by Bookouture
Pages: 348
Genre: Fiction
Purchase @ http://www.amazon.com
The Author: Kerry Fisher is the bestselling author of five novels, including The Silent Wife and The Secret Child. She was born in Peterborough, studied French and Italian at the University of Bath and spent several years living in Spain, Italy and Corsica. She is married with two children and her dog.
