Summer was mine once. Leaving her behind to go to war was unforgivable. I survived... barely. Though my body is broken. I never expected to see her at the veteran’s support office. There are a million reasons I don't deserve her. I fell in with a bad crowd when I got back home. Worse than she can imagine. They’re still out to get me. My love is dangerous. And my secrets are deadly.
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.
Freya is torn between her two mothers. Liv, her adoptive mother who nurtured and raised her, is earthy, no-nonsense. The total opposite to Melody: with her vibrant, explosive personality and extensive, brightly coloured wardrobe, Freya's birth mother is still apt to find herself thrown out of Top Shop for bad behaviour. Hard as it has been for Freya to try to reconcile her two families, it has been harder for her mothers. Proud of her mature and sensible adoptive daughter, Liv fears Melody's restless influence. Meanwhile, forced to give up her baby when she was just a teenager herself, Melody now craves Freya's love and acceptance - but only really knows how to have fun. Then tragedy strikes, and the bonds of love that tie these three women together will be tested to the max. Can they finally let go of the past, and pull together in order to withstand the toughest challenge life could throw them?
In her first novel, Serle presents an intensely romantic, modern recounting of the greatest love story ever toldNnarrated by Rosaline, the girl Romeo was "supposedO to love.
Grayson: If I had to use one word to describe my wife, it would be Mine. Emmalin is my life, my love, and the mother of my child. She's given me more than I deserve, and more than I ever wanted. Nothing ever came easy for us. Fight hard, Fuck harder. Now, someone wants to take it all away from me. Someone has a sordid tale to tell, that's a threat to both me, and my family, and it's one I can't defend. I have to fight back. But how do I fight for everything and prove my innocence when nothing makes sense and lies start to sound like the truth? How do I hold onto the only woman I've ever loved, even if she asks me to let her go? I can't. She's the one I refuse to lose.... Emmalin: Life with Grayson has never been more perfect. But life is also a bitch and then you die.
"Simply told but deeply affecting, 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."--
Hey buddy. What are you looking for? Did you pick me up reading the title? Did anyone suggest you this book? Oops! Sorry for questioning you right away. Well, don’t you think the world around you works on questions. People don’t get to know you, but can always question you on the first place to make you unsettle, burst your bubble of comfort, and then drag you into the state of awkwardness. By the way, I am Ved Agarwal, and this is my story. But, if you are looking for acceptance, then this is your story. If you are still waiting to be heard, then this your story. If you are delaying to take a step ahead, then this your story. If you are trapped in a melodrama of life, then this is your story. If you are looking for anything in this world except for getting rich, then this is your story. Ahh! That must have shaken your thoughts, isn’t it? You must be questioning ‘How the hell this Ved Agarwal is so sure that this is my story too alongside him’? Then, to you I would like to say that ‘When you took out the book from the shelf, it was a mere story, and suddenly when it involved you as a character, the anxiety raised, the question raised, the rush to know why only me raised’. So, jump into this story alongside Ved to know why this is your story too. P.S: I would get to know your name by the end of the story. How is that possible, is a catch.
