This is the story of an 18 year old boy who finds out he was adopted as he is heading off to University. He seeks out his biological parents and finds his mother. But the woman he chooses is not the woman who gave him life. An extraordinary book with many surprises. Thanks to NetGalley, Bookoutre and the Author for allowing me to read and review this book.

Having enjoyed Susie's first book Valentina, I have been waiting patiently to get my hands on her latest book.
Was it worth the wait? You better believe it! I was so engrossed I raced through it and read it in one day.
Set in Northern England in the 1970's, early 80's in the Jack the Ripper era, this is a well written, well researched, psychological thriller with real characters and an outstanding plot.
I highly recommend it, and am looking forward to Susie's next one.

‘How much of what we believe is in fact lies we tell ourselves, and how much is truth?’

Christopher is a slightly socially awkward young man, eager to do well, who discovers at the age of eighteen that he’s adopted. He wants to find his real mother, to find a person who truly loves him, as he has never felt completely connected to the people who brought him up. He builds his birth mother up in his mind into an almost saintly figure, drifting away from his adoptive family. Once he attends Leeds university he finds excuses not to go back to visit them in the holidays.

This book is unusual in that it’s told from Christopher’s point of view through the words of another person. This person attempts to make it true, recreating his life story from what he has said himself. I found it utterly gripping. It went back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, covering the time when the Yorkshire Ripper was at large, and showing clearly the fear of female students at the time. The setting, the social history of the time and, of course, the developing character of Christopher, made this a thoroughly good and rather unusual read which I enjoyed hugely.

I received an advance review copy from Netgalley.