What Was Mine: A Book Club Recommendation! (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781476732350)

"A suspenseful, moving look at twisted maternal love and the limits of forgiveness." --People "Not only a terrific, spellbinding read but a fascinating meditation on the choices we make and the way we love." --Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author Simply told but deeply affecting, in the bestselling tradition of Alice McDermott and Tom Perrotta, this urgent novel unravels the heartrending yet unsentimental tale of a woman who kidnaps a baby in a superstore--and gets away with it for twenty-one years.Lucy Wakefield is a seemingly ordinary woman who does something extraordinary in a desperate moment: she takes a baby girl from a shopping cart and raises her as her own. It's a secret she manages to keep for over two decades--from her daughter, the babysitter who helped raise her, family, coworkers, and friends. When Lucy's now-grown daughter Mia discovers the devastating truth of her origins, she is overwhelmed by confusion and anger and determines not to speak again to the mother who raised her. She reaches out to her birth mother for a tearful reunion, and Lucy is forced to flee to China to avoid prosecution. What follows is a ripple effect that alters the lives of many and challenges our understanding of the very meaning of motherhood. Author Helen Klein Ross, whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, weaves a powerful story of upheaval and resilience told from the alternating perspectives of Lucy, Mia, Mia's birth mother, and others intimately involved in the kidnapping. What Was Mine is a compelling tale of motherhood and loss, of grief and hope, and the life-shattering effects of a single, irrevocable moment.

Author: Helen Klein Ross
ISBN-10: 1476732353
ISBN-13: 9781476732350
Publisher: Gallery Books
Language: English
Published: 01/05/2016
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.30w x 1.00d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 10/01/2015
Publishers Weekly 11/02/2015
Romantic Times 01/01/2016 pg. 38 - Excellent
Library Journal 12/01/2015 pg. 96
Booklist 12/15/2015 pg. 22
People Weekly 01/11/2016 pg. 47
Shelf Awareness 01/22/2016