Because Of You
Dawn French
Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock . . . midnight.
The old millennium turns into the new.
In the same hospital, two very different women give birth to two very similar daughters.
Hope leaves with a beautiful baby girl.
Anna leaves with empty arms.
Seventeen years later, the gods who keep watch over broken-hearted mothers wreak mighty revenge, and the truth starts rolling, terrible and deep, toward them all.
The power of mother-love will be tested to its limits.
Perhaps beyond . . .
Because Of You is Dawn French’s stunning new novel, told with her signature humour, warmth and so much love.
Thank you to the publisher, Penguin for a copy of the book, which I have reviewed honestly.
My Thoughts
I didn’t expect to get so drawn into the message behind this story. I even had a long discussion with my husband about elements of nature/nurture, morality, the power of grief and forgiveness. This very rarely happens and his strongly opposing view to mine made me realise what an amazing writer Dawn French is….because she made me feel empathy for a woman who had committed a criminal act and deprived another woman of her newborn baby.
Because Of You left me feeling like an emotional wreck. Especially the ending which I did not see coming. Maybe because I have just lost my own mum the story resonated strongly with me. I tried to put myself in the place of the characters…Hope, Minnie, Anna, to see how I would feel in their position. Each one had the right to feel wronged, deprived and deeply distressed. Is forgiveness an option I could face? and just how important is the bond between a mother and her child?
The characters are vividly portrayed and the rawness of stillbirth is described beautifully but may be too much for someone who has experienced this. However, the depth of grief was needed to explain the act of a desperate and traumatised woman.
There is humour and warmth in the dialogue, especially between Hope and Minnie but this is not a lighthearted book. I ached to find out what became of the stillborn child sent to the hospital mortuary and found the pace irregular, but I would still consider this to be a great read. It is thought provoking, emotionally charged with a story that stays with you long after the last page has turned.
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