Diana Finley

Spanning across 30 years this is a story of a young mother, forced to give up one of her babies, one of her two twin boys, Barry and Donal, and how that one moment in time’s impact has on the families life’s and how it resonates through all their futures.

Beginning in 1970 the main narrative is told by the twins mother, Marie, but also switches between both sons pov as well, giving the whole book extra depth and allows you to follow first hand how each of their lives have developed throughout the years, taking us with them right up to it’s conclusion in 2005.

Discovering that she was pregnant and the father nowhere in site, young Marie is sent from her home in Ireland to London for a secret abortion before anyone finds out that she has disgraced her family. But upon arrival in London, not wanting to go through with the abortion, she desperately wants to keep her baby and Marie hears about a mother and baby home, St Agatha’s, run by nuns which she turns to for help keeping the baby. What she didn’t know beforehand is that the nuns put the babies up for adoption. She also didn’t know that she was expecting twins!

After the birth Marie is put under immense pressure to put both her twins up for adoption against her will. With gritted determination she manages to keep one of the babies whilst the other was swiftly adopted by a rich couple who were desperate for a child.

Heartbroken from the Donal size hole in her heart she leaves St Agatha’s with nothing but a tiny sum of money and one of her sons. After queuing for hours at the council offices in hopes of finding a bed for the night in the pouring rain she is granted a few weeks in a local b&b which doesn’t open until 6pm, so with time to kill and needing somewhere dry and warm to feed the baby she goes into the only open cafe she can see. And it is there that she first meets Sylvia.

Sylvia is the first person Marie meets when she leaves the convent and she is also the first person that has shown her any kind of kindness, helping her when no one else would. Sylvia is also her salvation when she helps Marie find and gain a respectable job as a housekeeper for a wonderful older lady, Erna Goldstein, who not only hires Marie but has a self contained flat within her home for Marie and her baby son Barry to live.

There is also the dual narrative as it follows Donal’s adoption and his life. He has always known that he was put up for adoption, but what he doesn’t know is that his name was changed by his adopted parents to Robert, he doesn’t know that he has a twin brother and he doesn’t know that he has a mother who has never recovered from being separated from him!

You know, Sylvia, sometimes I’m almost happy; I tell her. There’s just the one area of my life causing me pain and anxiety, and I can’t stop it. That feeling of loss eats away at my soul every day and every night – and the sadness never seems to lessen. If anything, it consumes me more and more as our separation wears on ….

With her obvious talent for writing, with this book the author has a way of reaching deep down into your very soul with some truly heart wrenching narratives as well as throwing in some completely unexpected twists that hit you like a sucker punch to the gut and leave you reeling! Amongst all the heartache there are also rays of sunshine so it’s not all doom and gloom, but it is a rollercoaster for your emotions!

The book is wonderfully written, the characters are real and completely engaging, all playing their part to create this captivating story that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

The Lost Twin will be published on 26 August 2020 and is available for preorder now.

https://inkedbookreviews.co.uk/2020/08/23/the-lost-twin-by-diana-finley/… (més)

This is not my typical kind of read and I give it 4 stars because the sadness far outweighed the little bit of happiness this family experiences throughout the years.
In 1970, a young mother is sent to a children and family home ran by nuns. She is forced to give up one of her sons and kicked out into the streets. She can't go back home due to a very strict father. This book follows these 3 individuals the next almost 40 years of their troubled lives.
Barry grows up to be a spoiled rich kid, a drug addict, and abusive. He's the one who got to stay with his mother as she found a way to support them. He's so ungrateful and I just find myself wanting to slap him.
Robert (Donal) is gave up for adoption and kicked out in the streets after various stays at several homes. He's frugal, kind, and down to earth. Everything his twin is not.
Barry finds Donal and they are just starting to know each other when fate decides it's not meant to be. From here, I had a feeling which direction the book would go and I was right. I just wish this family were reunited much sooner and maybe this book would have been a much happier ending. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a free book for my honest review.… (més)

This was so well written....delving into all of mental aspects of a woman's theft of a small child and then the back and forth of what happened over the years, to the woman, and that child. I'm really impressed with how Finley handled this so that you could reach an "ending," of sorts---because of all of the different threads that had to come together. Yes, it was possibly a tiny bit far-fetched to see how the theft could keep going with the enormous number of lies Alison had to create about her "daughter," but...it worked as a great read.… (més)

Today I finished this book in tears. This story was wonderfully told and just so emotional! I was sad to see this book end!

This book starts with the family celebrating Anna's 100th birthday. Such a wonderful celebration that brings in all the memories of her life. From there the author takes you on a journey thru Anna's life and those she meets along the way. You start with Anna as a young girl and you go thru WW2 and beyond. I do love a good historical novel!

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for the chance to review this book!… (més)