by Claire Adam
First published 2025
Dawn Bishop was sixteen when she fled Trinidad for Venezuela in 1980. She gave birth to a daughter there and surrendered the baby to nuns for adoption. Dawn rebuilt her life in England with marriage, career, and two sons, but the divorce came later. Through decades of change, one constant remained: thoughts of the child she abandoned in Venezuela. At fifty-six, Dawn receives a message from a stranger on an internet forum. The woman believes she might be Dawn's lost daughter. Dawn faces a choice that could reshape everything. The mother who walked away must decide whether to embrace the love she has carried for forty years or protect herself from the pain of what she left behind. Claire Adam explores the weight of maternal bonds that survive separation and time.
Genres: literary-fiction, domestic-fiction, contemporary, adult-fiction, family-drama
Vibes: emotionally-resonant, intimate, introspective, poignant, reflective
Tropes: internal-conflict, life-altering-choice, long-lost-child, second-chance-reunion
Setting: Trinidad, Venezuela, England
Period: 1980, contemporary
304 pages · Paperback · Faber & Faber
Content warnings: pregnancy-loss