‘A Mother’s Story’ by Maggie Christensen

Synopsis

A lost child. A mother’s grief. A daughter’s journey.

In Scotland, in 1941, as WW2 increases in ferocity, Rhona Begg goes against her parents’ wishes and enlists in the ATS—a decision that brings with it heart-breaking consequences. After the war, weighed down with regret and grief, Rhona receives news that has the power to change her life.

Across the ocean in Australia, Nell Duncan worries about her husband who is fighting in the Far East. When she receives the dreaded news that he is missing in action, her world collapses. The end of the war brings changes to Nell’s life, but her dream of bearing a child is no longer possible and she grieves for what might have been.

In 1971, when Joy Baker gives birth to her daughter, she begins the journey to discover her ancestry. What she finds shocks her to the core and propels her on a journey to the land of her birth.

Three women. Three mothers. Three astonishing stories.

My Review

I must admit that I have a particular fondness for family sagas and especially family sagas that have their roots in the Second World War.  I love discovering new authors too.  So you can probably appreciate how excited I was to find a book that ticked both boxes.  Needless to say I couldn’t wait to start reading and so without further ado, I grabbed my Kindle, grabbed a cup of tea and sat down for what proved to be an emotional afternoon of reading.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘A Mother’s Story’ but more about that in a bit.

As soon as I started to read ‘A Mother’s Story’, I knew that the story would certainly tug on my heartstrings and then some.  At the same time I also knew that I wouldn’t be able to put the book down for any length of time.  In fact I became addicted to this story from fairly early on.  I had taken so well to the character of Rhona and I was so appalled at what happened to her that I had to keep reading to see how the story panned out for her.  The other leading characters were introduced and so I had to keep reading to see how the story panned out for them too.  I would pick the book up only intending to read a couple of chapters to fill in the odd half hour or so but I would become so wrapped up in the story that I would still be sat there reading over 5 chapters and an hour later.  The more of the book that I read, the more of the book I wanted to read and the quicker the pages seemed to turn.  I soon got to the end of ‘A Mother’s Secret’ and I had to bid farewell to the leading characters.  I found ‘A Mother’s Story’ to be a gripping and emotional read.  It certainly kept my attention throughout and it kept me on the edge of my seat.

‘A Mother’s Story’ is well written.  The author has one of those writing styles that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with.  She certainly knows how to grab the reader’s attention and draw them into what proves to be a compelling story.  It’s true that some difficult subjects are tackled within the story but Maggie writes about them with great compassion and sensitivity.  I love the way in which Maggie makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story and at the heart of the action.  I enjoyed the story so much that I kept wanting to jump inside the pages of the book to sort certain people out.  Reading ‘ A Mother’s Story’ certainly took me on one hell of an emotional rollercoaster ride with all the ups and downs, twists and turns and so on.

In short, I really enjoyed reading ‘A Mother’s Story’ and I would recommend this book to other readers.  I will certainly be reading more of Maggie’s work in the future.  The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.