A Mother's Story by Maggie Christensen
Genre: Historical fiction, WW2, Post-WW2, Contemporary fiction, Women's fiction
Read: 21st November 2021
Published: 2nd November 2021
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
A lost child. A mother’s grief. A daughter’s journey.
In Scotland, in 1941, as WW2 increases in ferocity, Rhona Begg goes against her parents’ wishes and enlists in the ATS—a decision that brings with it heart-breaking consequences. After the war, weighed down with regret and grief, Rhona receives news that has the power to change her life.
Across the ocean in Australia, Nell Duncan worries about her husband who is fighting in the Far East. When she receives the dreaded news that he is missing in action, her world collapses. The end of the war brings changes to Nell’s life, but her dream of bearing a child is no longer possible and she grieves for what might have been.
In 1971, when Joy Baker gives birth to her daughter, she begins the journey to discover her ancestry. What she finds shocks her to the core and propels her on a journey to the land of her birth.
Three women. Three mothers. Three astonishing stories.
From wartime Scotland to present day Australia. A Mother’s Story is an emotion-filled sweeping family saga.
MY REVIEW:
Despite taking over two weeks to read this book (because we were moving house and I was too exhausted to read), I thoroughly enjoyed A MOTHER'S STORY, an historical fiction tale spanning from 1941 to 1991 set in both Scotland and Australia. It is a beautifully told family saga filled with drama and emotion that will tug at your heartstrings. Though not a dual timeline story as such, A MOTHER'S STORY begins during wartime Scotland and spans the decades to 1991. Despite the length of time it took me to complete this tale, my actual reading time was probably around 6 hours and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.
Scotland 1941: It's wartime and Rhona Begg decides to help with the war effort rather than book-keeping for the steelworks. So she signs up to the ATS and upon acceptance, travels to Yorkshire in England to begin her training and is later placed with the Anti Aircraft Artillery. But Rhona wasn't to realise what was to come when one night changes her life forever, seeing her leave the ATS and get a job as a barmaid in a local pub that came with accommodation.
Rhona enjoys her job at the pub with landlords Hugh and Bess but then Hugh suffers a heart attack and the couple decide to sell the pub, leaving Rhona homeless and jobless. She soon finds work in the munitions factory and accommodation nearby, but not without conditions which Rhona found she had to overcome and make a heartbreaking decision. Then during an air raid one day, a direct hit changes Rhona's life even further leaving her bereft and never the same again.
When the war finally comes to an end, Rhona returns to Scotland and her family and tries to get on with her life, carrying her secret with her and sharing it with no one. When her neighbour also returns injured bringing with him his comrade, Rhona meets the man who would become her husband and father of her children. With Walt she realises she is safe, and with Walt she finally shares her secret.
Australia 1941: Nell Duncan worries for her husband Joe who is fighting in the Pacific when she receives the dreaded telegram. It states that he is missing in action presumed dead and Nell feels as if her world has fallen from beneath her. But her parents contact the Red Cross and one day excitedly share the news with her that Joe is in a Japanese Prisoner of War camp but is alive. As soon as the war is over, Nell can't wait to begin a family but when Joe returns the doctors inform her that due to his injuries and treatment in the camp, Joe will unlikely to ever father children. Nell is devastated but puts on a brave face for her husband.
Over the years and trying to prove the doctors wrong, Nell and Joe try to fall pregnant until it becomes clear that the doctors were right. But becoming a mother was all Nell ever wanted. Why is she robbed of that joy when so many others are gifted with it? And some not even wanting the children they bore?
Then one day through her work in the library reading stories to children, her favourite part of the job, she meets a beautiful happy little girl called Joy who is completely enamoured in the stories Nell reads to them. She looks for Joy every week and soon discovers she comes every third week. The Sisters at the orphanage where Joy lives tell her that she is one of many that came to them through the child migration scheme from England after the war, left orphans after the bombings claimed their parents. Nell fell in love with Joy and soon she and Joe adopt the little girl, her wish finally granted to become a mother.
In 1972, Joy is now 30 years old, married to Paul and has given birth to a beautiful daughter they have called Catherine. Joy has always known she was adopted but the subject of her birth parents was one she rarely raised with her mother for fear of upsetting her. But now having become a mother herself, Joy is curious more than ever to discover the truth about her birth parents and where she came from. What ensues is a sometimes heartbreaking tale that will take Joy to the other side of the world to meet the woman who gave birth to her. Her other mother.
WOW! I cannot express how much I truly enjoyed this tale spanning the decades of Scotland, England and Australia. It is beautiful, heartfelt and often heartbreaking, one cannot help but shed a few tears whilst reading. The main characters - Rhona, Nell and Joy - are all wonderfully strong women and each of them mothers in a journey that ties each of them together. While the story is predictable it doesn't take away from it in any way and is just as powerful and heartfelt. The emotion that fills the pages with both joy and heartbreak will tug at your heart.
Maggie Christensen is a new-to-me author and one I wouldn't hesitate to revisit if A MOTHER'S STORY is anything to go by. It is emotional, heartbreaking, joyful and well written that kept me turning the pages and well invested in each woman's story.
I thoroughly enjoyed A MOTHER'S STORY and highly recommend it to fans of Amanda Prowse, Kate Riordan and other historical fiction tales that span the decades.
I would like to thank #MaggieChristensen, #CalaPublishing and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #AMothersStory in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
After a career in education, Maggie Christensen began writing contemporary women’s fiction portraying mature women facing life-changing situations, and historical fiction set in her native Scotland. Her travels inspire her writing, be it her trips to visit family in Scotland, in Oregon, USA or her home on Queensland’s beautiful Sunshine Coast. Maggie writes of mature heroines coming to terms with changes in their lives and the heroes worthy of them. Her writing has been described by one reviewer as like a nice warm cup of tea. It is warm, nourishing, comforting and embracing.
From the small town in Scotland where she grew up Scotland, Maggie was lured to Australia by the call ‘Come and teach in the sun’. Once there, she worked as a primary school teacher, university lecturer and in educational management. Now living with her husband of over thirty years on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, she loves walking on the deserted beach in the early mornings and having coffee by the river on weekends. Her days are spent surrounded by books, either reading or writing them – her idea of heaven!
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Thanks so much for this awesome review. So glad you enjoyed A Mother's Story.
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