I picked up a copy of Jane Yardley's Rainy Day Women by chance, and bought this too because of the sixties setting. In the year of the moon landing and the Stones' concert in Hyde Park, thirteen year old Kim Tanner turns up on the doorstep of a trending 'unmarried mother' author, claiming to be her long-lost daughter. The truth is a whole lot messier, and waiting for all the threads to unravel is actually what kept me reading. Kim is an old head on young shoulders, and I enjoyed reading about her crash landing into the life of hippy chick Imogen, but the irreverent tone of the narration jars slightly with the serious theme of the novel, particularly when skeletons start falling out of closets. Plus, there are just one too many coincidences, most notably the connecting character of Sukie. Kim is marvellously well-drawn, though, using humour and high intelligence to mask hidden memories. The rest of the cast is slightly clichéd, from flower-child Imogen to jolly hockey sticks Joan the gardener, but all are good fun. A good novel to read alongside In The Family Way by Jane Robinson, which goes into darker detail about mother and baby homes like the Magdalene laundries. ( )

Adoption and amateur theatricals in the 60s, with an endearingly practical heroine. ( )