Heidi Daniele

I so wanted to love this book. I expected a strongly atmospheric, emotionally intense story. What I got was more like a child's journal written in hindsight by the adult. The story has its moments, but I never truly felt it.

The book is written in first person, from the perspective of Mary Margaret Joyce from the age of four through to her later teens. The chapters are divided into multiple short sections, with many no more than a paragraph and others a page or so long. As I mentioned, these read like journal entries but with the distance of an adult's perspective. Consequently, the content feels choppy, slightly removed, and often repetitive, because the child's life in the orphanage is structured and full of repetition.

For me, the story would have worked better if an adult narrator had been added to offer more insight and depth.

My complaints are specific to me. The writing is good, and the story offers an unsettling glimpse into how the children of unwed mothers were once treated.

*I received a review copy from Sparkpress, via a BookishFirst giveaway.*… (mehr)