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Nov 16, 2016GLNovak rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
This is quite the book. Two sisters separated at birth find each other sixty years later. Told alternately by Helen and Jenny, the story begins with the girls at pre-school age and follows them through their very different lives up to their reunion. Helen is the daughter raised by her natural mother in a home seemingly without love or any kind of parenting skills at all. She suffers much abuse from her violent father and her cold bitter mother. There are hints of nice times but they are completely overshadowed by the darkness Helen learned to live with. Jenny, on the other hand, is given up for adoption and her life is full of love and happiness and success. She does not know she is adopted until an adult. She is rocked and finally decides to search for her biological family. I found the story a bit of a plod at times because there was so much of the happy successes of Jenny and the sadness and guilt of Helen. The actual search itself and the revelations that came one by one were fascinating. I was amazed at the little bits of documentation they found that led to so much coming out, and at the knowledge the extend family had but never revealed. The sad thing about it all is the suspicion that there are other people born during that time who are also in the dark about their true parentage. Secrets abound and as individuals pass away those secrets and the truth go with them.