Firstly thank you Catherine for inviting me to take part on your blog tour. I am very honoured and chuffed to be honest!
I am delighted to welcome Catherine Miller to my blog for the final day of her successful blog tour for her brand new book All That is Left of Us. Catherine is published by Carina and you can purchase her book here - out 15th September 2016
One of My Own…
Dawn loves being a mother. No matter how Archie came into her life, or the fact he's a little different from other children, he is precious and loved. He is hers, after all. Especially because she’s never told anyone who the father of her son is.
So when Dawn’s twin brother David and his wife Rebekah are struggling to have their own child, Dawn agrees to become their surrogate, as it is the one thing she can do to help.
However, creating the perfect family doesn’t always go to plan and when Dawn realises just how much her nephew needs his mother, she begins to wonder if the time has finally come to confront the past she has kept secret for so long.
From the author of Waiting for You comes a story of friendship, motherhood and hope.
I enjoyed this book immensely, in fact I read it in two evenings tutting at anyone who disturbed me!
The subject of surrogacy is something we have all heard about, but not something I have read about before in a fictional book.
We meet Dawn as she is attending an ante-natal class with her sister in-law Rebekah. Rebekah is wearing a prosthesis so she looks pregnant, but it is Dawn who is carrying her baby. Rebekah is married to Dawn's twin brother David and has been unsuccessful in bringing a pregnancy to full term. She has suffered many miscarriages and the fact that she hasn't mourned these lost babies affects her ability to be a Mother to the baby that Dawn has for her.
Dawn has a son of her own. The very likeable character of Archie. He has disabilities, which mean he enjoys routine. I found this character very well written as I have experience of caring for children with similar issues. Archie is obsessed with the family of meerkats at the local zoo and come rain or shine visits the zoo every Saturday with his Mum to make notes and observations on the meerkat family.
Whilst visiting one weekend, Archie befriends the new meerkat keeper - Joel - and they quickly bond, which surprises Dawn as this isn't something that Archie is usually able to do.
This book is about family and how it doesn't have to be a Mum, Dad and 2.4 children. Family is what you make it and shows us that as long as there is love you can overcome anything that life throws at you.
I shed a few tears throughout and also giggled at Archie's exploits. Brilliant read.
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| The Lovely Catherine Miller |
Thank you Catherine and her publisher for inviting me to take part in this blog tour and for the advance copy of the book via Netgalley.
If you want to catch up with the tour then follow the links below:
Monday 12th September ; The Writing Garnet
Tuesday 13th September: The Romaniacs
Wednesday 14th September: Daniel Riding
Thursday 15th September: Jo Lambert - A Writer's Journey
