The phone call comes in the middle of the night, rousing Danni from her safe, warm bed. The police have found her mother Diana wandering along the main road, miles from her house, confused and lost.
Danni races to her mother's side, but when she arrives, as always, her mother doesn't seem to care. 'Go away, Danni,' she says. 'I don't want you.'
When she was a child, Danni would lie awake at night wondering what she had done to make her mother so cold. Now she is determined to put the past behind them and make Diana as happy as she can in the time they have left.
But as some of Diana's memories are slipping away, others are forcing their way to the surface. One night Diana breaks down in tears and reveals her heart-breaking secret. Years before Danni was born, there was another baby who never got to see the world. Now there is one last thing Danni can do for her mother. She will find her brother's resting place and bring Diana some peace.
But good intentions can have unexpected consequences, and soon Danni's life will be changed forever. Are some secrets best left buried?
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Taking one last look up at my mum's bedroom window, I pull the garden gate closed and lock it behind me. PROLOGUE, 17 FEBRUARY 2019
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(@bookouture, 27 January 2021, 288 pages, ebook, #ARC from the publisher via # NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed, #BlogTour 28 January)
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My heart has a massive hole in it, a massive hold weeping blood. This is my first read of 2021 to reduce me to tears. I need a hug and some hot chocolate and marshmallows, maybe even one of those hot water bottles shaped like a cut animal to snuggle up to. I loved this book. My nan had dementia and the author is spot on in the way she portrays how the illness affects Danni's mother. She reminded me so much of my nan I found it painful to read at times. My Mother's Secret is the definition of a page-turner and a tear-jerker. I didn't want to stop reading once I'd fallen into the lives of Danni and her family as they cope with one shock after another. I loved every word of this.
