The Second Child

The Second Child – a book review #TheSecondChild

At the start of this year I got to read a pre-publication of a really beautiful book that I want to share with you all today. The Second Child is the first novel from Caroline Bond, and I’ve no doubt that it’s going to be a big success.  It will be published next month through Corvus Books and I can thoroughly recommend it.

The Second Child

You all know that I love a good page turner and The Second Child is exactly that. In fact it caused me a few rather late nights as I struggled to put the book down.

How would you feel if one day a blood test result showed that neither you or your partner were the parents of one of your teenage children who you’ve brought up as your own? I can’t begin to imagine how I would feel if I discovered that my eight year old son wasn’t my biological child.

But this is exactly what we find at the start of The Second Child, as Sarah and Phil discover that their disabled daughter Lauren cannot biologically be their child.  When his daughter’s blood group gets brought up at a routine check Phil questions it, knowing that it doesn’t tie up with his own.  He then starts to think that his wife must have had an affair and a strain starts to build on their relationship.  Sarah knows that she’s always been faithful, and the pair are devastated when they learn, that in fact neither of them are biologically linked to the child they’ve always known as their daughter.  Their baby must have been somehow switched at birth in the hospital.

So begins the search for the truth and a daughter they didn’t know they were missing. Then there’s Anne, a woman’s who’s been bringing up her daughter Rosie on her own for years. A normal, healthy girl, with a mind of her own.

We read on as the lives of the two families collide, as both families learn that they have been bringing up the wrong daughter. There are times throughout The Second Child when the story is rather heart breaking, as one mother is desperate to let her real daughter in, whilst not letting go of the child she’s raised, whilst the other is terrified of who her natural daughter is.  The characters are brought to life so well and the story really does make you question what makes a family and how strong love is for the children we feel bonded to.

I’m not going to tell you the whole story.  You need to read it through yourselves, it twists and turns and might not lead you where you think it will.  But it certainly makes you think and empathise.  I loved reading The Second Child and am sure you will too.  I’ve included my Amazon Affiliate link below in case you’d like to pre-order a copy for yourselves.  You won’t regret it.

disclosure:  we received this book in exchange for an honest review

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