Mother’s Day, by Patricia MacDonald, narrated by David Stuart, produced by Brilliance Audio, downloaded from audible.com.Greg and Karen Newhall, married since highschool, found they couldn’t have children. Their lawyer arranged for the adoption of a baby from a local girl, they were never supposed to know who the mother was. Then, when their daughter, Jenny, was 13, Karen actually became pregnant, but it soon ended in miscarriage. Karen was deeply depressed at the loss of the child. Greg decided to plan an extra special brunch on Mother’s Day, but Jenny failed to turn up for the brunch opting instead to go to a movie with her best friend. Greg is furious that Jenny would miss the Mother’s Day brunch, and Karen is deeply hurt. They return home, a very tense family. Then the doorbell rings, and a strange young woman enters and tells them that she is Jenny’s biological mother. Jenny is overjoyed, having wanted to know things about her real mother. Karen is totally shocked and angry at the invasion, and Greg makes no comment. The young woman, Linda, states that she hasn’t been back for 13 years and is now going home to see her own mother. After making arrangements to meet Jenny the next day, Linda leaves, goes to her home, and is thrown out by her mother and older brother. She makes a statement that she has come back to “right past wrongs”. She checks into a motel. She does have one lunch date with Jenny, reluctantly agreed to by Karen. The next day her body is recovered from a trash barrel and she has been murdered. In trying to solve the murder, some secrets are exposed that are dangerous to know, and Karen begins to think she never knew her husband at all. This is a book which explores the sensitive area of adoptees finding out about their real roots and the effect that may have on adoptive parents. It is also a good mystery, well up to MacDonald’s usual standards. Highly recommended.
