The Lost Mother by Catherine Hokin
Genre: Historical fiction, WW2
Read: 24th January 2021
Published: 28th January 2021
★★★ 3.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
She looked at the empty cradle where her baby had been. Her heart felt tattered and empty, like the hollow streets of Berlin after its people began to live in fear.
Berlin, 1934. Homes once filled with laughter stand empty as the Nazi party’s grip on the city tightens. When Anna Tiegel’s beautiful best friend catches Reich Minister Goebbels’ special attention, an impulsive act to save her brings Anna under his unforgiving scrutiny. First, she loses her job, then slowly, mercilessly, she finds her life stripped away. After her father is killed by the Nazis, Anna’s final hope is to escape to America with her boyfriend Eddy, but when she reaches his apartment on the agreed date, she finds it deserted. Alone and pregnant, the future feels terrifying, but she must try to protect the life inside her.
Rhode Island, 1957. Peggy Bailey stares in shock at the faded photograph of two laughing women which her beloved adoptive mother struggled to pass on to her before she died, whispering ‘It was inside your baby blanket when we brought you home’. As Peggy continues to stare, she realises that she has seen one of the girls before, in the most unlikely of places… Bursting at the realisation, she embarks on a mission which takes her across America to find the truth behind her heritage. Nothing, however, could prepare her for the tragic story her actions uncover…
A poignant and beautiful World War Two story about survival and a mother’s enduring search for her child against all the odds. A heart-breaking read for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, We Were the Lucky Ones and The Alice Network.
MY REVIEW:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Catherine Hokin's latest heartbreaking tale THE LOST MOTHER (previously titled "All Who Wander").
I love Catherine Hokin's historical novels but they are like climbing a mountain. A long slow arduous climb to get to its peak but once you're there, the view is magnificent. And the journey was worth it. I always feel like this about her books...slow to start with but I know I will be rewarded with a wonderful heartwarming story. However, I'm not sure how I felt about THE LOST MOTHER. The climb dipped and bowed from slow to petering out to slow again. Just as I started to really get interested, it dipped once again with a story arc I was disappointed in. But it did have a heartwarming ending which was at least satisfying.
New York, 1935: The story begins with Anna sitting on a bench in Central Park ruminating over the past year that has lead her to this point. The highs, the lows, the love, the losses, the tragedy and the heartache. She sees a mother and her baby in a pram, the little child cooing and giggling gently as the mother says she has suddenly started doing that. It brings up a wealth of memories and heartbreak of her own. Of when she gave birth to her daughter and was forced to give her up back in Germany. But now that is why she is here...to find her baby.
Rhode Island, 1957: Twenty two year old Peggy Bailey looks up the house that has been her home for the past 15 years. Its shuttered windows and the life that has now gone from its walls. After losing her father at aged 15, Peggy went on to complete high school and then go on to get her degree in journalism. But she had no time to think about a job as her mother's cancer diagnosis came shortly before her graduation and though as ill as she was, her mother made it to see her get her degree. Then Peggy became a permanent carer for her beloved mother Joan.
Then before she died, Joan gave Peggy a photograph telling her that it was in the blanket they brought her home in...that her mother must have slipped it in. Her birth mother. And Peggy's world fell apart. Not only had she lost the only mother she has ever known, she now discovers that she has a birth mother out there somewhere...and she sets out to find her. Looking closely at the photograph, Peggy wonders which of the two women in it is her mother. As she continues to stare, she gasps realising that she recognises one of them...having seen her in the most unlikely of places.
And so now, Peggy sits in the car that was her mother's, her suitcases packed, looking up at the house as she ponders where this journey will take her. Embarking on a mission that will take her across the country in search of the truth about her heritage, Peggy prepares herself for the drive that will take her roughly a fortnight to make across the hot dry and arid deserts of Arizona and New Mexico. Is she prepared for what she will find there?
Berlin, Germany, 1934: A beautiful country with homes once filled with laughter as the onset of the Nazi party's grip on the city tightens, two beautiful young women - Anna Tiegel and Marika Baikker - light up the stage and screen. Anna is a theatre actress while Marika's love is for the movies. But the film industry in Germany is tightly controlled by the Party and under the firm hand of Hitler's Reichminister Joesph Goebbels.
All films made must highlight the Party's progaganda and anyone who dares to disagree is ostracised by the industry so Anna has no choice but to co-operate when Goebbels sets his sights on her. And Goebbels is not a man to be crossed. Although Anna is a theatre actress, Goebbels wants her to sign with the UFA which was tightly controlled by the Party and therefore by him. His promises included work for Anna's boyfriend, Eddy Hartmann, who is a film director. Unable to say no or risk ostracism, Anna has no choice but to co-operate.
Marika, who has her sights set firmly on stardom, falls under Goebbels' spell and chastises Anna for refuting him. She is clearly his new favourite, lining her up to be his next mistress, but Anna fears for her best friend and tries talking her out cosying up to him. But Marika will not be swayed. Goebbels is powerful and she wants to be a star...whatever the cost.
Goebbels' grip tightens as he paves the way for an exclusive party in which Anna and Marika have a starring role but Anna feels that something is dreadfully wrong. And so she conjures up a ploy for her and Marika to make their escape but Goebbels sees right through the subterfuge and, as they leave, whispers threats in Anna's ear which are anything but idle.
Anna knows she must escape if she is to survive and plans to sail for America with Eddy. But when Anna arrives at his flat on the day they are due to depart, she finds it empty. And to make matters worse...Anna has discovered she is pregnant. She had come to tell Eddy but she was too late.
Suddenly, with no job and nowhere to go, Anna must find a way to survive. The Party has taken everything from her but they will not take her baby. But will she have a choice?
THE LOST MOTHER is a very different story to the first two historical novels by Catherine Hokin. It's very different from any other WW2 era books and not at all what I expected. For the most part I enjoyed it but then it petered out and I found myself a little disappointed after Anna had successfully fled Germany only to find herself an unwilling double agent forced to infiltrate the German American Bund, the American band of Nazis. But if that wasn't enough, she was then interned as an enemy alien! It was a heartbreaking read as her sole purpose for coming to America was to find her daughter...and then she found herself caught up in something she had no control over.
The book is broken up into three parts. After the prologue, Part One alternates between Anna, as her story just begins, in 1934 and Peggy, as she embarks on a journey of self discovery and for her lost mother, in 1957. Part Two is solely Anna's story from 1934 to 1947 in all its heartbreaking detail. Part Three is Peggy's story as she delves deeper into Louise Baker's past in her search for her mother. It is very cleverly done and the story is both original and unique, filled with emotion, strength, love and heartbreak.
While I didn't enjoy quite as much as her previous two, THE LOST MOTHER is still a good read and a must for historical fiction fans.
I would like to thank #CatherineHokin, #NetGalley, #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheLostMother aka #AllWhoWander in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Catherine Hokin is the author of two World War Two inspired novels set in Berlin, her favourite city. Following a History degree at Manchester University she worked in teaching, marketing and politics, while waiting for a chance to do what she really wanted which was to write full time. Her short stories have been published by iScot, Writers Forum and Myslexia magazines and she was the winner of the 2019 Fiction 500 Short Story Competition. She is a lover of strong female leads and a quest.
Catherine now lives in Glasgow with her American husband. She has two grown-up children – one of whom lives, very conveniently, in Berlin – and a life long addiction to very loud music.
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