Crying at Christmas.
Oh geez.
What an emotional story.

Two sisters.
One through medical problems have had three miscarriages so far so her sister decides to surrogate and carry a baby for her.
I often wonder how a woman can do that then give the baby away. I’m aware it’s for helping, self sacrifice and all that, yet still as a mom I ponder.

Those that do it for the right reasons I admire. Even if I don’t think I could.

The emotions that came with this was intense, very intense. I was right within these pages, I felt both sisters pain.

The author did a fantastic job with this storyline.

If you’ve not read this and need a weepy book, this is it. Tissues at the side.

Omg talk about a roller coaster read wow this book kept me on the edge of my seat threw out I just couldn't put it down this writer keeps you hooked and once your hooked your not letting go I found this book thrilling the characters were fantastic and well thought out and the little clues all the way threw keep you guessing until the end this book stays with you long after you close the book this book is well worth the read I promise you wont be disappointed

An emotional read that was extremely well written. This book kept my interest the whole way through .

A tough emotional read about sisters Nadia and Zoe who enter into a surrogacy arrangement thinking it will all be fine because they are sisters- but it's not. Now that baby - Louise - is a teen and needs them. It's a good one.

What a beautiful emotional read. One written from the heart. Dawn doesn't let her reader go at any point in the novel. She had my attention throughout. It is really refreshing to read something like this. Wonderful.

This novel had me emotionally involved from the outset. Much of the reason for that is because the characters are so well drawn. The reader gets to experience not only the situation from Zoe’s point of view but also that of Nadia.
To me the weakest parts of the story and the hardest to read were that to do with the teenage Louise, probably because I found her hard to like. She is a selfish- absorbed and irresponsible teen. With her actions, she gives those who love her a lot of grief. I wanted to shake her and tell her to wake up to herself. However Louise’s view and actions are essential to the story. And she wasn’t the only one I wanted to shake at times, for some of their decisions, which simply shows how involved in the story I was. All the characters came across as real and three dimensional.

This book tugged at my heart strings over and over. Does a surrogate mom have priority over a child’s mom? As I read this book, I sympathized with each character. It seems like there are no winners in a surrogate war. I truly enjoyed this book. It made me think and ponder moral situations. At the same time, I was thoroughly entertained. If you are even considering this book, read it. I’m really glad I did.

I really quite enjoyed this book even though went in to it thinking it could be mediocre. The flipping from past and present was a nice way to see the whole story.

Fun times, peeps, fun times! Grab yourself a glass of something bubbly – because the sun is shining where I am and it’s a Bank Holiday weekend so why would you not; I’ve already been on the bucks fizz this morning – and make yourself comfortable because today I’m chatting with the lovely Dawn Barker about her novel Let Her Go, and writing in general.





Before we get started, let’s warm up with a quick fire round. This is always my favourite part.

Ready, steady, GO:

Coffee, tea or…? Gin (Hendricks) and tonic (elderflower!) [a woman after my own heart!]
Favourite film? The English Patient
Favourite book? We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Summer or winter? Winter (I live in Australia – summer is too hot for my Scottish skin!)
Favourite Colour? Blue
Last thing you ate? Ciabatta with vegemite for breakfast
Dream holiday destination? An Antarctica cruise
If you could jump to any point in history, who would you have dinner with? Marie Curie
How do you like your steak? Medium rare
What are your pet peeves? Whinging! I’m a big believer is solving problems and being positive and proactive.

I do love that bit! Anyway, on to the proper bookish fun stuff!

Let’s get started.

Firstly, I’ve read Let Her Go but for anyone who’s yet to get acquainted with the book, can you tell us a little bit about it?

First of all, thanks for having me! I had fun with those quick questions above!

Let Her Go is my second novel, but my first to be published in the UK with Canelo!

It’s the story of two sisters, Zoe and Nadia, one of whom decides to act as a surrogate for the other. The story follows the journey through each character’s eyes, and also though the child born of this arrangement, Louise, as they all have to deal with the psychological aftermath of their decisions.

I first thought about writing Let Her Go after watching a documentary about a woman who used a surrogate mother to have a child. In the show, when the surrogate mother attended the child’s first birthday party, she appeared to be very attached to the child she had carried. There was something in the body language of both women that made me wonder how they both really felt, behind their smiles.

I then heard more and more about the advances in fertility treatment, and read stories in magazines about people buying eggs and embryos overseas, then paying women to carry the children for them. Around the same time, I re-read Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and saw that the world she imagined in a speculative fiction novel is not that far removed from the one we live in now.

I personally felt conflicted: being a mother myself, I would never deny anyone the right to experience the joy of being a parent, but there are ethical issues to consider. I wanted to write Let Her Go to explore my own feelings about this complex issue.


The whole premise of the book, the way you get to see both Zoe and Nadia’s points of view as well as seeing what life is like for Louise as a teenager and the way you weave the three stories together is clever and effective. Where did the idea come from?

It was important for me to have the perspectives of both Zoe and Nadia in this novel. The issue of surrogacy is not one sided, and there are no heroes and villains as there are in some novels. I wanted the reader to hear from both of them, to empathise and like and dislike them as much as we would with any real person.

I didn’t have the thread of Louise’s story until about my third draft of Let Her Go. I had been reading the blog of a child born in the US to a surrogate, and he wrote about he felt powerless and that he had no voice. It then occurred to me that the third important person in this story – Louise - didn’t have a voice either, and I felt that her life was, in many ways, more important that the others’. I found her character very easy to write – I liked her, and I felt that her story was the simplest in many ways – she was a child, and was powerless until she found a way to express her feelings.


The relationship you painted between Zoe and Nadia felt really honest to me, and you seemed to really get how relationships between siblings – even step-siblings – work. Do you have brothers and sisters? Are you close?

I do have siblings: a brother, and a half-brother and half-sister. We are reasonably close though given the age difference between myself and my half-siblings, and the fact they still live in Scotland and I live in Australia, we are not as close as I’d like.
My brother moved to Australia though and that’s fantastic.

Families are complicated, and that why I like to write about them. In my professional job, as a child psychiatrist, I work with families every day and see how complex those relationships are. I wanted to capture the sense of family duty and love versus our selfish needs and desires as individuals.

Who did you find easiest to write, Nadia or Zoe?

It was an interesting process, writing from both points of view. Initially, I thought I was on Zoe’s ‘side’ – she was the character I sympathised with most, and Nadia was the villain of the novel. However, as I wrote Nadia’s scenes, I found myself cheering her on in a way. Perhaps it was because I could put myself in her shoes more than Zoe’s. Having gone through three pregnancies of my own, I understood how much Nadia would have bonded to her child by the very act of carrying the pregnancy

If Let Her Go was a DVD what would the special features be - are there any scenes that ended up ‘on the cutting room floor’ that you can share?

Oh, there was so much cut out of it! I write big first drafts, with all sorts of threads in it, and then start a new document called ‘deleted bits’ – I always dream that I’ll use those words in another project but have never even gone back to look at them. And I can’t even bring myself to go back to them now – once a novel is finished, I like to pack it away. There are always ways that it could have been improved, but when it’s done, its done, and I don’t want to create doubt by revisiting it!

Special features might include some of the research: the interviews I did with three women who had been surrogates, interviews with surrogacy clinics, the case law from the Supreme Court that I based this story on, and images of the locations around Western Australia where the book was set including the stunning Rottnest Island.

Tell us about how you write: do you prefer a loud room or a quiet room; is your manuscript typed or handwritten, do you write during set hours or as the word comes, and at home or some place else? What works best?

I’m pretty disciplined when I start writing a new project - I have to be, with three children and a day job as a psychiatrist! I set myself a daily word limit and stick to it, no matter what. If I get stuck in the scene that I’m writing, I’ll just switch to another, or even just describe a setting that my characters might be in, just to keep the word count moving forwards. However, I have to work around my job and family, and young children have no respect for protected writing time!
I find it harder to redraft books as I need some time to get into the momentum of the story and hold pieces of it in my mind as I move things around, deleting and adding scenes and chapters. At the moment I try to write during the day (in term time) on two days a week, while my children are at school. I write from home now so that when I’m having a break, I can do the things that need to be done in a family, like hanging washing and waiting for tradesmen! I used to always write in my local library but at the moment, I’m trying to cut out the travel time and use it to write instead!


What’s next for you? What are you working on now?

I’m on the second draft of my third novel, which will hopefully be released in 2018. It’s not finished enough yet to be able to talk about, and I still don’t even have a title but hopefully it all comes together before the end of the year!


What’s the best writing tip you’ve been given?

‘You can’t edit nothing’!

When I first started writing I spent (wasted!) so much time dreaming about how it would feel to have written a novel, but I now understand that you must get the words on the page. They will probably be terrible words and paragraphs and chapters, but it’s only through actually writing that you can write a book.


& because I’m always on the look out for new book recommendations, what are you reading right now?

I’ve just started Jock Serong’s On the Java Ridge – I loved his last book, The Rules of Backyard Cricket which, despite the title, was not really about cricket. It was a crime novel set around the relationship between two brothers, who happened to be cricketers!


& what’s the best book you’ve read this year?

I’ve just checked my Goodreads page to see what I’ve read this year – and I think for me, it was The Power, by Naomi Alderman. There are others that I loved at the time, but this is the book that has stayed with me and that I still think about it and recommend to friends.

Thank you so much for having me on your blog today! I love to hear from readers so if there are any questions, please get in touch through my website, www.authordawnbarker.com, Facebook www.facebook.com/authordawnbarker, or Twitter @drdawnbarker.


Thanks so much for stopping by, Dawn!

Let Her Go is available now, and is currently only 99p on Kindle; a bargain and a good read, what are you even waiting for!?

This was an emotional and captivating read. I could really emphathise with both of the main characters, Zoe and Nadia. Zoe was so desperate for a child of her own and Nadia did such a wonderful thing for her, and thought she’d be able to remain detached and hand the baby over afterwards, happy to just be her aunt. But both go through difficult times and emotions and it all becomes very complicated.

I loved the way the book moved back and forth between the past and the present. It really kept me guessing right up until the end.

The setting was a refreshing change, it was nice to get an insight into life in Australia.

All in all, an excellent book, engrossing and sympathetic. Highly recommended.

A 4* review for Let Her Go by Dawn Barker which i downloaded from the Author on my kindle. "After years of struggling to conceive, Zoe and her husband face the prospect of never having a family. When Zoe’s stepsister, Nadia, offers to be a surrogate it presents the perfect solution for everyone" Sounds like a dream come true, or does it? With Zoe's husband Lachlan donating the sperm, a baby girl Louise is born and Nadia hands the baby over to her sister. However, none of them imagined just how hard it would be to know someone else was also mother to your child. As the pressure on Zoe and Nadia mounts, they make choices that there is no going back from.

This is a fascinating, compulsive novel set in Australia, which explores the complexities of surrogacy and the far reaching consequences it can have for both families. The Author beautifully captures the emotion and entanglement that such an act of love can leave in its wake, and the way that regret can affect the lives of everyone. Nadia's husband thought the process was simple; get pregnant, have the baby and hand it over to your sister. However, Nadia experiences a sense of loss, grief and desperation to reclaim Louise as her own. Whereas Zoe wants her to have as little to do with baby Louise as possible so that she can bond as her mother. The 2 sisters are caught in a web of morals and longing for a happy family which takes a toll on their marriages.

The Author brilliantly displays to the reader just how devastating one innocent act love can be and i was constantly torn between feeling sympathy and understanding for both sisters/mothers. I did not know how the book was going to end, which is a good thing for me, and i was pleased with it. But Dawn Barker certainly put me through a whole plethora of emotions and moral discussions in my head and highlighted how uncertain the act of surrogacy can be and i believe it is a book that should be read by anyone contemplating it. There are certainly lessons to be learned here.

A moving story of surrogacy within a family and the emotional backlash that comes from such a big decision. The story will keep you guessing the outcome and pulls at your heart at times.

Let Her Go opens with Zoe and her husband Lachlan facing infertility. Their only options are adoption or surrogacy. Zoe's health means that she will never carry her own baby successfully. Her sister Nadia has a solution but the repercussions from the agreement they make will have far reaching consequences in the lives of both women and their families.
This is a quick read, I finished it in one sitting on a quiet afternoon and I found the book compelling. The characters are well developed and both Zoe and Nadia are sympathetic at times, but unlikable at others. Both women share a quiet desperation at different times in the novel and it's impossible to see how they can ever reconcile their own desires with that of their sister. The storyline has three strands and the latest of the three is especially cleverly written and will keep the reader guessing until a defining paragraph close to the story's denouement. This means that there isn't a twist as such, but the reader is left questioning the events and what has happened in the intervening period between the two story strands.
Fans of books by the likes of Jodi Picoult will enjoy this novel. The tensions of a family divided are well portrayed, especially in the female characters, and the story is tightly plotted and fast moving. I was gripped and thoroughly enjoyed it.

A moving and emotional read with brilliant characters. I enjoyed this book and would consider reading more from this author in the future.

I really enjoyed this book speaking from a personal perspective I know how awful it is to want a child desperately and feel that longing, jealousy, bitterness. It's beautifully written and well thought out and I really connected with the characters. I couldn't put it down and raced through it I'd definitely recommend it

Quite a complex book more about the families than the child. Yes l enjoyed it as it was a Subject l knew little about and it was sad that the child was affected by that one decision but l would question if this would have prompted such behaviour or if that was just the way things are sometimes - so as you can tell a very thought provoking book

This was a tough read for me, knowing it was about infertility and surrogacy but I wanted to know just how Nadia and Zoe cope with this momentous decision they've both made and how both sides of the story were portrayed.

Zoe has Lupus, a disease that means that a lot of sufferers cannot have children. Step forward Nadia, Zoe's step-sister who already has 3 children of her own but is willing to be a surrogate for Zoe so she can have the child she so desperately wants. At first, things to go to plan but Nadia soon realizes that giving up Louise is not what she wants and starts trying to find ways to get her back. Zoe is fully aware of how Nadia feels but she's dealing with a disintegrating marriage and her husband Lachlan won't talk to her. When things come to a head Nadia decides that the baby is no longer safe with Zoe and Lachlan and takes them to court to try and get custody.

The story of Zoe, Lachlan, Louise, and Nadia jumps back and forth between two different time periods, with Lou as a baby and then as a struggling teenager. While I was drawn to Louise and felt such sorrow at what she was going through I found it hard to like either Zoe or Nadia. They were quite unlikeable characters a lot of the time, unable to have an adult conversation about the situation and instead choosing to run away from what had to be the most difficult thing in their lives.

Let Her Go is just that, the story of letting someone go. Whether it's the right thing to do or not and what the effect of that decision can have on a family for the rest of their lives. It's powerfully written, at times heartbreaking and an incredibly emotional story but what I liked best was the depiction of Zoe's illness. It wasn't just mentioned once, at the start of the story as a plot device and forgotten about. It was mentioned consistently throughout the story and how it affected Zoe and her way of thinking, the desperation she felt of becoming seriously ill again and the possibility of Louise being taken away from her.

If you enjoy stories about family, how major choices can affect family members and people trying to find their way back to each other then do read Let Her Go.

Realistic characters, good storyline. Very thought-provoking. Well written,.

I was really torn on this one. (There are some spoilers so tread carefully). It's so well written, and the plot flows so smoothly, that other than the somewhat abrupt ending, I really enjoyed reading it. However, and here's a disclaimer: I neither have nor want kids, so maybe it was for this reason that I 100% could not connect to the 2 women who were the main characters in this story. I found them alternatingly selfish, annoying, overly dramatic, and incapable of accepting the consequences of their own decisions. I think it's a mark of the writer though, that she was able to get me to react so strongly to them. Zoe, a woman who has tried and failed, after dealing with a lifelong chronic illness, to get or stay pregnant, has finally realized that her dream will never come true. (Normally, my heart aches for women like this. My choice to not have children does not mean I don't have massive sympathy for someone who wants, but can't have.) Then, her stepsister Nadia steps forward to offer to be a surrogate for her, using Zoe's husband's sperm and Nadia's egg, at least then the baby will feel like it's "Zoe's" and not some strangers. (This is where I really started to dislike Zoe. She swoops in after her step sister makes the offer, gives her husband exactly .4 seconds to get used to the idea before losing her shit that he's not leaping out of his skin with joy, and refuses to give any thought whatsoever to using a stranger as a surrogate, or adopting.) The entire family, both couples involved, go through counseling, psychological assessments, etc. Everything seems hunky dory. Even though both husbands are on the sidelines damn near screaming - HEY DON'T DO THIS IT'S PROBABLY A BAD IDEA YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO HAVE ISSUES...blah blah, they decide to proceed. It's apparent right from the birth that Nadia is not doing well. (This is where I started to really dislike Nadia. She's already given birth 3 times to 3 beautiful kids of her own, knows how she felt when they were born and can imagine how she would have felt had someone taken them, and she STILL though it was a good idea to carry a baby she'd have to give up. Nah, bruh. You made this bed, sleep in it.) Then Nadia made the brilliant decision to join a "support" group of other mother's that gave up their children, and of course they do, they all encourage her to do what she can to get her kid back. This woman actively plots and plans against someone she considers her own sister, and then when presented with the perfect opportunity because of an incident with said sister's husband, is off to the races to work with an attorney to rip her own sister's child away from her. Things escalate from there, and then its a short few chapters to the end, which I found somewhat abrupt. We get to alternate viewpoints between Zoe, Nadia, and Louise, the child and really the only innocent party in this sh** show of family dynamics.

Wow, this was a very difficult reads for me. As a mum you feel deeply all the changing emotions dealt with in the book, sometimes feeling so sad, sometimes frustrated or even angry. The subject was uncomfortable but interesting as it's rarely covered or dealt with. Not everything can be perfect and nobody is perfect. I feel a bit battered and bruised finishing this but appreciate the good writing and story telling. Would recommend to friends and would be ideal for a book club.