If you think photos aren’t important… wait until they’re all you have left of your child.

Your life isn’t perfect, but you’re still happy. Your husband has stuck by you and he’s a good dad. Your daughter Becca makes your heart explode with love.

And then, in the time it takes to say ‘bad mother’, there’s no longer a place for you in your own family. Your right to see your child has disappeared.

Life goes on in your house – family dinners, missing socks and evening baths – but you aren’t there anymore. Becca may be tucked up in bed in Rose Cottage, but she is as lost to you as if she had been snatched from under your nose.

Everyone knows you deserve this, for you what you did. Except you’re starting to realise that things maybe aren’t how you thought they were, and your husband isn’t who you thought he was either. That the truths you’ve been so diligently punishing yourself for are built on sand, and the daughter you have lost has been unfairly taken from you. Wouldn’t that be more than any mother could bear?

This isn’t the type of book I would usually read but I really enjoyed it. When I ordered this I was expecting a thriller, but it turned out to be a much more emotional read.

Lost Daughter tells the story of three mothers, who, for various reasons, no longer live with their children. Leona gave up her daughter for adoption, Viv’s son has been in an institution for forty years, and Rachel moved out of the family home after an ‘incident’ with her husband.

The story focuses on Rachel, with some chapters telling the story of other characters. Rachel’s story has chapters set in the present, and before the incident, explaining the events that led up to her losing everything.

The author describes the emotions of the different characters beautifully. We get an understanding of the pain and guilt they feel from not being able to look after their childen, and the journey they go through dealing with this.

This book moved me to tears more than once. It was an incredibly captivating story.