This book packed an emotional punch. It draws you in within the first few pages and never lets you go. The pacing is wonderful and people from all walks of life would really enjoy it.

I was so annoyed with the main character in this book I haven't been able to finish it yet after 2 months.

This book for me had the WOW factor. What an emotional journey this sends you on. Kerry Fisher really is an excellent author. I love her books.

The Secret Child is a very emotional and heartbreaking story that will stay with me for a long time. It is told in two parts, 1 from the point of view of Susie and the second from her younger daughter Grace. This is very interesting way of telling the story as it helps you to see the characters from different angles which make is easier to understand them and how they act.

It is hard to believe that such attitudes towards unmarried mothers and children born out of wedlock existed only 50 years ago and that mothers were faced with such awful decisions in the face of societies prejudices. In this Kerry Fisher writes about a difficult subject very sensitively creating some very poignant moments which had me rushing to hug my kids even when they were asleep. I often found myself on the verge of tears reading about her feelings on having to adopt her son and hoping for a happy ending where she would be able to keep him. The author has obviously done her research as the feelings that Susie feels after losing her baby are very similar to mine after I lost my baby, albeit in different circumstances. I must admit that I found some of these passages quite hard to read and often had to put the book down for a little while when it got a little too emotional for me.

The book cleverly intersperses the present and the past which helps the reader to glean more knowledge about what happened and to understand more about why the characters acted the way they did. This helped add to the emotional impact of the book especially as the reader becomes more aware of the whole story and how events transpired.

This is the first book by Kerry Fisher that I have read and I will definitely go back and check out some of her other books in future.

Huge thanks to Kim Nash at Bookouture and Netgalley for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ecopy for my Kindle.
I loved this book! Even though I didn't agree with Susie/Suzanne's decision,thankfully, I've never "walked in her shoes". At the time of her decision, Susie did what she thought was best for everyone involved. And I had to remember while reading this book that she made her decision during the 1960's. I don't want to give away the story, but I would highly recommend this book.

I very much enjoyed The Secret Child by Kerry Fisher. This is the second book I have read by this author, having read the Silent Wife not long before this. I was looking forward to reading another book of hers, and I was not disappointed.

The story is set in England in the 1960’s, a time when bearing a child outside of marriage was very much a scandal. When a young Susie finds herself pregnant, while her husband is working away at sea, she faces the heartbreaking reality of being made to put her child up for adoption. It’s not until later on in the book we find out more about the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy, and I wont spoil it for anyone, but the development of the story only makes the situation harder to bear.

The story is told from Grace’s point of view for most of the book and is excellent in portraying the mothers pain of losing her child in this way, a pain which never dies, and the ramifications of this for her and her family’s future.

Towards the end of the book the story switches to the viewpoint of her daughter Grace, and this adds a further layer to the story which only enriches it. The relationships between the family are a distinct part of the book and it is interesting to see the differing consequences for each of Susie’s daughters, Grace and Louise, as a result of the situation.

I think this book stands out in the way that it is so relatable, you truly feel yourself in Susie’s shoes. The guilt is both imaginable and believable, and you honestly feel the sorrow and utter helplessness she feels. It’s a very poignant story, full of secrets, consequences and emotion. It has been written with great care and the plot of the story developed brilliantly. It brought me to tears and I honestly could not put it down. Well done Kerry. I will look forward to your next novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book early for an honest and unbiased review.

The Secret Child is an emotional family drama which focusses on how giving a child up for adoption affects Louise and her whole family for decades to come. The characters were all well written and although I was desperate for Louise to tell her secret throughout the book, it made for a very satisfying ending.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

A great story, very sad, but also a love story. The truth should have been told, by. Not telling the truth a whole life was a lie, The children suffered, the husband suffered and Susie never felt comfortable with her children always arguing with them and her husband. Really felt sorry for Susie what a situation to be in.

This book was such a treat to read. Hard subject matter but so well written. Kerry's books are always brilliant reads and this The Secret Child is not exception. Absolutely gripping from the first word to the last. Highly recommend. My thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for the advance reader copy.

I just loved The Secret Child.
I was gripped from the first few pages a great page turner.
It’s a story of a woman who had no choice but to give up her baby for adoption in the 1960s and the struggles she has keeping this huge secret from her husband and her other children for many years.
A well deserved 5 stars from me.

This book was SO good!!! Quite a roller coaster of emotions though so be prepared. Gripping, heart-breaking, deep and very emotional--will tear at your heart; definitely worth reading! Well-written and the story was also well-paced. Highly recommend this one--I will definitely be looking for other books from this author.

oh my goodness... this book! so good!! great characters with an ending you won't see coming. i love the way it was written and got so caught up in this story, not knowing what was going to happen next. i will be looking out for more by this author

THE SILENT CHILD by Kerry Fisher is a gripping novel of family secrets, guilt and regret, that will leave you in tears. I normally read psychological thrillers, mystery, suspense thrillers, so this was a nice break. I loved her book, The Silent Wife, so was anxious to read her new book, The Secret Child. And I was not disappointed. This is another winner! What an emotional family drama, from the 1960's …I am at a loss for words.

It was the decision that changed the rest of her life…

Susie did something that she knows she will always regret: giving her baby son up for adoption, to keep her infidelity secret from her family. The baby wasn’t her husband Danny’s child. Her mother convinced her that her marriage would be over if Danny returned home from his fifteen-month tour of duty, and found her with another man’s child.

She had no choice…in those days…and had to give her son, Edward up for adoption.

“In less than twenty-four hours, I’d be giving you away forever. I had the rest of my life to work through the madness of trying to conceal another man’s baby from my husband.”

Louise, Susie’s daughter, feels the effects of that decision echoing down through the years – her mother has always been difficult, too strict with her but not strict enough with her sister Grace, who is wild and out-of-control. And Danny, Susie’s husband, adores her, but has always sensed something wrong at the heart of their marriage.

Over the years, Susie tried to get pregnant again, and finally in 1977, they had their second daughter, Grace …but it still didn’t fill the whole missing in her heart.

The story is told from two perspectives (Susie and Grace) and how her choice impacted on the family to come. This novel was heartbreaking at times to read, and even not being blessed with children, I still could feel the vivid pain.

Many thanks to my favourite publisher, Bookouture via Netgalley for my copy. I definitely won’t be forgetting this book too soon. Highly recommended!

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was probably the most emotional book I have read in a while. My first for the new year. It was so good. Grabbed me from the first page and would not let go. I could have just sat and read all day and night if I did not have other things that I had to do and people to take care of.

Kerry Fisher did a wonderful job of pulling me in and had me hanging on for dear life. I wanted to know what came next and had a very hard time putting it down.

I won’t go into what this book was about because there are so many great reviews already doing that. I will say have a big box of Kleenex handy while reading this book. It’s worth every single tear you will shed. I promise. It’s just a good book that will keep you wanting more.

I honestly cried so much reading this book that my eyes are sore now. But like I said, it was worth it. I will read more by this author.
Just a wonderful story of love, loss and bringing back together again. A love story for everyone.

As soon as her mother noticed her bump Suzanne (Suzie) was sent off to the Mother and Baby House in London, they told everyone she was helping her ailing aunt. Therefore avoiding any awkward questions and bringing shame on the family. With her husband Danny a sailor working on a boat in Singapore for 15 months it couldn’t be his baby.
Suzie had fallen in love with her son and didn’t want to give him up, her mother managed to persuade her although Danny was the salt of the earth could she really expect him to bring up another mans child?
So now her life would change forever it would be filled with lies, deceit and grief.
I really enjoyed this book there are so many reasons someone has a child adopted it’s not always just to make life easier for the mother. Reading this gives you some understanding. Bit more of advice you may want to have tissues at the ready.

great read and easy to follow story line. look forward to reading more from this author.

A heart wrenching story of a married women who gives up her second child up for adoption.
With realistic and relatable characters, this is a beautifully written story, sad and heartbreaking, moving and thought-provoking, ultimately incredibly emotional. I loved every minute of it!

This book was a different read from my normal mystery thrillers, but one which I enjoyed immensely. It is a very emotional read and one that you cannot put down. The story starts with Susie, pregnant and giving the baby away, she is already married, her husband away in the navy and the baby isn’t his, so that is the only thing she can do. We then follow the story of Susie and Danny and how this secret affects their lives. The Secret Child is a heartbreaking and uplifting read. Definitely recommended!
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Susie married young, she had her first child before she was twenty. She missed her sailor husband when he was away and had no intention of being unfaithful, but still enjoyed a night out singing with a band. After one fateful night she ended up in a mother & baby home resigned to giving up her baby in order to save her marriage. Giving up her son changes her and she is never the same carefree girl again.

She carries her secret close, imagining that her pain affects no-one else but her husband, who adores her knows there is something different & Louise, her daughter finds her mother difficult to get on with. Susie is determined to keep her daughter safe and controls everything she does. After years of trying they have another daughter and Grace is given much more freedom!

It is when Susie becomes dangerously ill & is calling out for 'Edward' that the secret finally comes out- but will it bring the family closer together or split them apart?

This was a really well written story that reveals the pain of a mother giving up a child for adoption and how that pain never quite goes away. As an adopted child I found it very moving. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this book.

As a young navy wife, Susie made a decision that changed her life forever when she decided to go out and sing with a local band. From that decision comes a new baby, but he is not her husband’s child. Shamed beyond belief, she turns to a local home for mothers who will give their babies up for adoption. And thus begins the sad story of a mother with a happy marriage to Danny, the sailor, with two young girls names Louise and Grace. But after what she did so long ago, Susie can’t forgive herself, nor can she talk to others about what happened because it is such a secret, one she holds close to her and weeps about annually in the attic where she keeps a chest of toys and cards for they young baby she gave away.. This book reminded me so much of when I was in high school and one of the very popular cheerleaders disapppeared for our senior year, banished to live with her aunt because she was preganant. Of course, that does not happen these days because the unwed mothers just continue to attend classes. But at one time, those who got pregnant as Susie did were shamed and ridiculed, so it was easy for me to imagine her difficult dilemma and how she made a choice that was even more difficult to live with for th e rest of her life.