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Phew. Have you ever read a book that just made you absolutely sick to your stomach at the reality of it? Who am I kidding if you read any historical fiction, of course you know what I’m talking about. I went into the The Secret Daughter not really having read the synopsis. All I really knew was that it was about a woman a few years older than me finding out that she was adopted when she found out she was expecting her first child.

Unpack that for a minute. Sabina was 38 years old when she found out that the parents who raised her were not her biological parents during a time that is already highly emotional. That would be a lot for anyone to take. I promise you that I’m not spoiling anything for you. This is all discussed in the first few chapters.

The story unfolds between Sabina in current day and Lily in the past. What unfolds is a lot more than just a “you were given up for adoption” story. I don’t want to give anything away so I’ll stop there and put the rest in spoilers if you are curious. [spoiler]From the 1950s to the 1980s Australia had a forced adoption policy if a woman had a child out of wedlock and her family didn’t want her to keep the baby she would live in a home during her pregnancy and leave the home once she delivered. I am not by any means an expert but it does seem like the majority of the victims were under the age of 18 but I’m sure there were exceptions. What happened to these women and children is unforgivable.[/spoiler]

The remainder of the book was just an absolute emotional roller coaster and I loved every moment of it. The Secret Daughter by Kelly Rimmer really taught me something and gave me something to think about. This was my first Rimmer novel but I don’t think it will be my last!