Book Synopsis:
A heartbreaking letter. A girl locked away. A mystery to be solved.
1956. When Ivy Jenkins falls pregnant she is sent in disgrace to St Margaret’s, a dark, brooding house for unmarried mothers. Her baby is adopted against her will. Ivy will never leave.
Present day. Samantha Harper is a journalist desperate for a break. When she stumbles on a letter from the past, the contents shock and move her. The letter is from a young mother, begging to be rescued from St Margaret’s. Before it is too late.
Sam is pulled into the tragic story and discovers a spate of unexplained deaths surrounding the woman and her child. With St Margaret’s set for demolition, Sam has only hours to piece together a sixty-year-old mystery before the truth, which lies disturbingly close to home, is lost for ever…
Read her letter. Remember her story…
The Girl In The Letter is available in ebook and paperback now, the ebook is currently the only 99p. You can purchase a copy of both here.
My Review:
Wow this was a stunning read! I really can’t believe this was a debut novel, the book is so well written and paced perfectly that makes it very hard to put down. I instantly felt involved in the characters lives and stories and wanted to know more about them.
This is an incredibly poignant and emotional story made even more so because it is true. The events in this book actually happened, unmarried women were treated this way and their babies were taken from that which is truly heartbreaking to read about. The mind boggles as to how these people got away with this awful treatment of so many young women and worse how their loved ones let it happen. The author has clearly done her research into these homes and doesn’t sugar coat anything for the reader, which might be a bit if a trigger for some people. J certainly found myself crying at parts. I thought, niavely, that such stuff only happened in Ireland so I was shocked to learn it was common in England too.
This story is very gripping and their were lots of twists which surprised me and made me keep reading long into the night. Sam’s investigation was well described and I really enjoyed reading about her emotional journey. Sam handled the situation with great sensitivity but didn’t allow herself to be put off the story which I really admired about her.
As mentioned above, this unbelievably is Emily’s debut novel and I really look forward to reading more from her. I will definitely be recommending this book to everyone as I think it is a very important book for everyone to read.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Headline for my copy of this book via Netgalley. If you like gripping, emotional reads about a harrowing part of Britain’s history then you’ll love this book.
About The Author:
(Biography taken from Amazon author page)
Over The Rainbow Blog 
Thanks so much Jo
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Wonderful review. This was another “Oooooo” for me as I read this review Joanna.
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