This autobiography charts a tale of loss and trauma, and then redemption.

In the way 60's a lonely New Zealand teenager, Susan, gets pregnant and is subsequently sent away from her home, then forced to give up her baby for adoption. Her family, with her strict and unbending father and over-acquiescent mother appears to mirror the typical kinds, of dysfunction of the day, with the hint that they in turn experienced deep traumas in their pasts (the father for example is Jewish).

The process of giving birth alone with the deep social disapproval from the doctors and nurses around her is also quite enough as a trauma in its own right. Then Susan loses her mother.

The book fast forwards alternately to an adult Susan now working in social services. However when one family presents itself for help, she finds herself becoming triggered by their issues. It's all to close to home.

This story is all about one individual's quest to heal the wounds from her past, though she is to find that reconciliation with her long-lost daughter does not immediately bring the resolution she seeks. This had already begun with trips to several mediums and psychics - then, further along the line, with psychotherapists and gurus.

The book counsels and seekers to relinquish over-identification with the way anyone might interpret what has happened with them, at any stage. This can present its own special traps.

This account certainly demonstrates how convoluted the path towards healing from emotional trauma can be, but this is ultimately a story of hope. As an aside, this autobiography is also of historical interest - the early sixties still were not kind to young women who had the temerity to give birth out of wedlock.

A Sense of Something Lost by Sue Wells
Book Review by Dawn Thomas

320 Pages
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing / O-Books
Release Date: February 28, 2020

Health, Mind & Body, Self-Help

Sue is a social services worker dealing with a troubled family in the 1980s. What she doesn’t realize at the time is how this family will stir up old emotions. In 1964, Sue finds herself pregnant and unmarried. Her boyfriend wants them to get married but since she is underage and her father is against it, she is sent away to have the baby and put it up for adoption. Sue is traumatized by the experience along with the death of her mother. She has no one to talk to about these events which causes her to push them further inside. When an Adoption Act goes into effect and birth records are opened, Sue receives an unexpected telephone call.

This is written as a memoir. Sue must come to terms with her feelings before she can forgive herself and lose the guilt, she has carried her entire life.

As a young teenager Sue Wells fell madly in love with her boyfriend and she becomes pregnant. The boyfriend is willing to support her, but her parents have a very different idea. They are adamant she cannot keep the baby., it would ruin the families reputation! One needs to keep in mind that this occurred in the 1960’s when sex before marriage was totally frowned upon.
Her father contacted an old doctor friend and asked for assistance in finding her a place to live and have her baby far away.. she hated the family she lived with. Her own family discarded her and didn’t answer her letters. She lived for the loving letters her boyfriend wrote. When it was time to have her baby, the lady of the house left her at the hospital entrance. It was interesting to hear that the nurses were nice to her until they discovered she didn’t have a husband! The baby was taken at birth, but she managed to get a glimpse of her baby girl.......an image that would stay with her forever, as you will discover when you read this book.
Extremely well written. A great non fiction that is well worth 5he read.

Sue Wells asks: can a woman who' has experienced the trauma of a forced adoption be free to live her life? Do traumas shape or define or ruin our lives? Or do they encourage us to see what out challenges are.

This is an interesting memoir. We can all feel trapped at times with something that happened that out of our control. This is a way of finding freedom through the ancient eastern mysticism by what can never be lost. I ,loved the authors style in writing this book. There is some poignant topics and helpful information. I will read more from this author. I really enjoyed this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, John Hunt Publishing and the author Sue Wells for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.