Releasing on 9th July 2020, you can pre-order now from Amazon UK
Inspired by heartrending true events in a home for unwed mothers, set in Ireland, Boston and London, this novel is perfect for readers of The Letter by Kathryn Hughes and The Girl in the Letter by Emily Gunnis.
For almost fifty years, Katie Carroll has kept a box tucked away inside her wardrobe. It dates from her time working as a nurse in a west of Ireland home for unwed mothers in the 1970s. The box contains a notebook holding the details of the babies and young women she met there. It also holds many of the babies’ identity bracelets.
It’s not every town that has a story. It’s every village. Every street… We’re your neighbour, your friend, your aunt, your mother. We’re the women who left and the ones who stayed. Some of us have been able to talk. Others may yet get the chance.
Following the death of her husband, Katie makes a decision. The information she possesses could help reunite adopted people with their birth mothers, and she decides to post a message on an internet forum. Soon the replies are rolling in, and Katie finds herself returning many of the bracelets to their original owners. She encounters success and failure, heartbreak and joy. But is she prepared for old secrets to be uncovered in her own life?
Rachael English is a bestselling novelist and presenter on Ireland’s most popular radio show, Morning Ireland. During more than twenty years as a journalist, she has worked on most of RTÉ Radio’s leading current affairs programmes, covering a huge range of national and international stories.
You can find her on Twitter: @EnglishRachael or on Facebook: Facebook.com/RachaelEnglishwriter
I really enjoyed this book, it tells the story of Katie, a nurse who worked in an Irish Convent back in the day when unwed mothers were sent there to have their babies who were then taken away for adoption, though the mothers often had to stay and work off their “keep”.
Katie kept a small box of keepsakes from her time there, all the paper bracelets she could of the babies born there to be able to return them to the children. Sat in the back of her wardrobe, after her husband’s death she teams up with her niece, Beth, to return them to their rightful owners.
This was a beautifully written story, uncovering some unknown truths and the horrors of the home. The author has done a great job of describing the time period and attitudes towards unmarried mothers and the conditions of the home. She describes the impact this has on the lives of everyone involved and shows that while some of the children are keen to get in touch with their birth mothers and have a happy ending, not all do and not all have a happy ending.
In order to give full feedback my only negative was that her niece, Beth is LGBT which, although explained slightly her relationship issues with her mother, seemed a bit forced in, and a distraction and another storyline to follow but it’s not very well developed so doesn’t detract from the overall story.
A really well-written story about a very sad time in our history, complete fiction but completely immersive.
Thank you to Net Galley, the Publisher and the Author for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
| Title | The Paper Bracelet |
| Author | Rachael English |
| Series | N/A |
| Format | eARC |
| Page Count | 496 Pages |
| Genre | Women’s Historical Fiction |
| Publisher | Hachette Books Ireland |
| Release Date | 9th July 2020 |
Click The Cover To Read Amazon’s Sample Today!