Review
"'This true story of loss, guilt, identity, family feuds, reunion and redemption is one that will move all who read it' - The Sun 'Enthralling and informative' - Woman and Home 'A marvellous book' - Bernard Cornwell 'The human face of the skeleton in every family's cupboard' - Anna Raeburn, writer and broadcaster"
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
A moving memoir of one woman's search for her birth mother, with a fascinating history of adoption in the UK weaved throughout
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Adoption is one of the great, untold stories of our recent past. It is a truly epic tale of loss, guilt, identity, family feuds, reunion and redemption. It is a subject, until very recently, surrounded by secrecy and taboos. In this enthralling memoir, Sue Elliot tells her own story of growing up as an adopted child. She details her emotional search for and meeting with her birth mother, Marjorie, the heartbreaking tale of how Marjorie came to give up Sue for adoption in 1950s England, and the shock of finding that she, Sue, wasn't the only child given away by Marjorie...Weaved throughout is the vivid, emotional history of adoption in the UK. Drawing on a wide range of intimate personal experiences, it outlines the forces that shaped 20th century adoption practice, from baby-farming, the stigma of illegitimacy, incest and the bastardy laws, to children taken by force, the Magdalene laundries, mass emigration schemes without parental consent, to modern day adoption practices, buying babies from abroad, sperm donor fathers and tearful reunions on Trisha.
From the Publisher
A moving memoir of one woman's search for her birth mother, with a fascinating history of adoption in the UK weaved throughout
From the Inside Flap
Dear Mrs Wilson
Could I have news of my baby? I do hope she is settled now, and that she is happy with her new Mummy and Daddy, and that they like her, too. She was such a darling, and you can well imagine how very difficult it has been to give her up, but I can overcome all that if you can assure me her adopters are nice people...
About the Author
Sue Elliot is a television executive and speechwriter, whose writing appears regularly in national newspapers such as The Guardian. She has a special interest in social policy and adoption, and has sat on adoption boards. Steve Humphries is one of Britain's most popular and influential writers of 20th century social history books. He was a lecturer in modern history at Essex University, but since the mid-1980s has been a TV producer. He has authored/co-authored more than 20 social history books, many of them TV tie-ins and bestsellers.
