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Crime

The Girl in the Letter

4.0(150)
Language
English
Available nowFree shipping
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About the book

Read her letter. Remember her story...

Gripping. Mesmerising. Haunting. Heart-breaking. Once you've heard her story, you will never forget The Girl in the Letter.

Perfect for fans of Kate Morton, Rachel Hore and Kathryn Hughes, this page-turning, moving novel of separation and long-buried secrets will stay with you for ever.

In the winter of 1956 pregnant young Ivy is sent in disgrace to St Margaret's, a home for unmarried mothers in the south of England, run by nuns, to have her child. Her baby daughter is adopted. Ivy will never leave.

Sixty years later, journalist Samantha stumbles upon a series of letters from Ivy to her lover, pleading with him to rescue her from St Margaret's before it is too late. As Sam pieces together Ivy's tragic story, terrible secrets about St Margaret's dark past begin to emerge. What happened to Ivy, to her baby, and to the hundreds of children born in the home? What links a number of mysterious, sudden deaths in the area? And why are those who once worked at St Margaret's so keen that the truth should never be told? As Sam unpicks the sinister web of lies surrounding St Margaret's, she also looks deep within - to confront some unwelcome truths of her own...
ISBN9781472255099
PublisherHeadline
Publication Date04/04/19
Pages384

Reviews & Ratings

150 ratings

22 reviews

4.0

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  • katrienchen
    katrienchen

    58 Followers

    5.0

    Wow, it's been a long time ago that I've read a book that was so very very captivating! The story is about a horrible mother child home and shows how events from the past might still effect people in the present. You can see it is all very well researched by the author and she's written a wonderful, allbeit a very sad, story. At a certain point I thought that Elvira and Kitty were both alive and kicking in the present day, but sadly there was only one left in the end. Roles reversed. I really really loved the story and I couldn't put it down to take a break. I had to, but really couldn't. To know that these things really happened so many years ago, so many young girls who were sent away to these horrible places to slave labour and be absued and mal treated by the people who were supposed to take care of them. The people belonging to the church. And to be forced to give your baby up for adoption. Not getting another choice, no chance to raise your baby yourself. I'm so happy times have changed. How many of those poor girls were assaulted in those places? Killed even? Horrible. Lest we forget...

    Dec 26, 2023

  • tastenklecks
    tastenklecks

    161 Followers

    3.5

    Erwartungen übertroffen!

    Das Buch liegt schon länger auf meinem SUB. Zu Unrecht. An wenigen Stellen war es mir zu konfus, doch das war wohl Plan der Autorin. Viele anderen Stellen sind sehr rasant geschrieben, der Rest ist voller Geheimnisse. Kurze Kapitel bringen ihr Übriges. Am Besten gefällt mir aber, dass man auf die Situationen in damaligen Mutter-Kind-Heimen aufmerksam gemacht worden ist. Dass das Trauma auch über Generationen weitergegeben werden kann. Mit der Auflösung bin ich moralisch nur bedingt zufrieden. Alles andere wäre aber doch sehr langweilig geworden. Weil ich nicht von Anfang an an der Hook war & es die erwähnten Auffälligkeiten gibt, gibt es nur 3,5. Sonst wären mehr definitiv angebracht.

    May 11, 2025

  • so_phia
    so_phia

    33 Followers

    5.0

    Spannend von Anfang bis Ende! Sehr zu empfehlen.

    Jun 23, 2024

3 of 22 reviews

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