BLOG TOUR - Not My Daughter

Today is the day for my stop on the Blog Tour for Not My Daughter by Kate Hewitt.

DESCRIPTION:

Anna’s hands tense on Alice and she hesitates. In that endless pause, I see all I need to know. She doesn’t want to give Alice to me – not now, and not ever. And part of me doesn’t even blame her… 

Milly always dreamed of being a mother. Adopted herself, she has always imagined a powerful intimate connection with a child of her own. So when she and her husband Matt are told they can’t have children, her dreams are shattered. 

But then their loved ones offer the ultimate gift – Milly’s best friend Anna and Matt’s brother Jack will be donors so that Milly can carry a child and finally have a chance to be a mother. And with everyone accepting and open, Milly believes that nothing could could go wrong. 

Except none of the four people involved are prepared for the feelings that will threaten their most important relationships as their precious, longed-for daughter Alice grows up and receives a heartbreaking diagnosis. 

Then those who love her best will have to decide what it means to be a parent, and to make decisions with far-reaching and devastating consequences… for Alice, and for themselves. 

Link to purchase the book

MY THOUGHTS:

Title:   Not My Daughter

Author:  Kate Hewitt

Genre:   Psychological Thriller

Publisher:   Bookouture

Format:  Kindle ARC
No. of Pages:  338

Date of Publication:  May 2, 2019

My Rating:  4.5 Stars

It was a decision made out of friendship, kindness and love. However, when Anna offers the gift of a lifetime to her best friend Milly, and her husband, there was no way to imagine the heartbreak that would follow. Milly was adopted as a child, and her one dream was to become a mother herself. After having years of problems conceiving, and then receiving the worst news of all, Anna offers her egg and Milly's brother-in-law Jack contributed his sperm. Now, Milly can finally have a child of her own.

This was the perfect opportunity and no one expected any problems. However, problems is what were experienced. First for Milly. Then for Anna. Everything that the friends had certainly came to a test. More than one actually. Not only do Milly and Anna experience agonizing trials, but the baby, Alice, as she grows into a young girl, is found to have a devastating condition.

During the pages of this book I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness. While Milly was preparing for the birth of her daughter, there were certainly many things that caused a lot of grief. For one thing, as mentioned, this strained her relationship with Anna. Then there were things about Milly's past that came to light that showed how deep her insecurity actually was. Furthermore, we learned about things that were very sad and heartbreaking that left no doubt as to what direction this book would eventually take. At not even 50% into this book, I felt very sad for both Anna and Milly.

I did actually have to put the book down because I had to stop and analyze everyone. I had to think about Milly, her parents, especially her mother. Then I had to worry about Anna and the imbalance of her relationship with Milly and how that as formed, even though they had been friends for quite a long time. Then there was Matt, Milly's husband, who had tried so hard to be supportive. I also began to feel very torn about Jack and his role in all of this and what type of things that might come up when the baby was born.

This sensitive book discusses infertility, IVF, postpartum depression and the diagnosis and outlook for little Alice. In the end, I felt rather torn by this story. In some ways this felt like a rather ethical read and was definitely a story of what if. Not My Daughter is the third book by Kate Hewitt that I have read. This story, like the others, is very effective and ran me through a gamut of emotions. I definitely look forward to continuing to read more books by this talented author.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kate is the USA Today-bsetselling author of many books of women's fiction and romance. Her latest releases are A Mother's Goodbye and A Vicarage Wedding. Under the name Katharine Swartz, she is the author of the Tales from Goswell books, a series of time-slip novels set in the village of Goswell. 

She likes to read women's fiction, mystery and thrillers, and historical novels. She particularly enjoys reading about well-drawn characters and avoids high-concept plots.

Having lived in both New York City and a tiny village on the windswept northwest coast of England, she now resides in a market town in Wales with her husband, five children, and an overly affectionate Golden Retriever.

Kate loves to hear from readers—visit her website www.kate-hewitt.com or you can contact her at katehewitt@kate-hewitt.com.