Irish angst at its best.
I have read a few books about the tragedy of Irish Mother and baby homes, the cruelties, hardships and heart breaking sadness. This story has a modern twist to it.
Carmel and Mikey are the children of Tess and her dead husband, when Tess falls apart following her husbands sudden accidental death, Carmel takes on responsibility for her Mum and her younger Brother, her Mum has a mental health issues and her brother drifts into drugs following an accident which ends his promising rugby career.
After Tess's death Carmel uncovers an illegitimate brother, whose existence has never been spoken of. At the same time she is betrayed by her husband and best friend Karen. All of this takes its toll on her mental health. She is helped by friends and her search for her long lost brother.
Sad and disturbing but a good read with light hearted touches that lift it.

From the beginning, the book slowly draws the reader into the events, intriguing more and more, creating many questions, the answers to which are found in the second half of the story.
I hardly can say that I like Carmel, her attitude to her husband, his wishes and their relationship at all. She was grieving too much for her mother and brother, obsessed with that what she should have let go a long time ago.
Despite the fact that sometimes the story seemed a little boring to me and I wanted more movement, I enjoyed reading it. There were the moments when I couldn't put down the book and kept reading, and also the moments when I couldn't wait its ending.
Thank you very much, Annette Sills, Poolbeg Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC. This book was so captivating i had to stop reading it. It was way too real for me. Child trafficking is real.

A heartbreaking story of the Magdalene mother and baby homes and Carmel's quest to find her unknown sibling. An emotional book that draws you in and highlights the appalling treatment of unmarried mothers in Ireland but is well written so is interesting and compelling rather than depressing

A story of love and of heartbreak. A look at the Irish Magdalene laundries and mother and baby homes from the 50s and 60s from the point of view of a sibling. After losing her brother and mother and finding a mysterious letter, this is a tale of discovery. Deeply touching and also very real. I enjoyed and couldn't stop reading this book.

Great book. Highly recommend and will most defiantly read more by this author and suggest to others!

Captivating story with twists and turns and unexpected endings. Keeps you on your toes and dreading putting it down. Tess will break your heart, wanting a happy outcome this side of heaven. Shows a historical look on unwed mother’s, adoption and the days before abortion. The truth is hard for anyone to read!

I must admit I am a fan of anything and everything Irish so was taken in by this book because of that. And I am glad as this book although fictional felt so real. The story of family, secrets (not just any secrets but dark secrets), sadness and so much more.

This is a hard book to read (not in a bad way) but is worth the emotions it puts you through. It is so heart-breaking, sad and painful. To think that all these bad things did happen and was someone's story is heart-breaking. Carmel is a well thought out and great main character and the story is one that kept me reading so much so that I had a hard time putting it down.

The Catholic Church has much to answer for, the story is tragic and it should be a boo read by all. I highly recommend it.

"My Mother's Children '' opens with Carmel Doherty in free fall. Mikey, the brother she loved so much, has died unexpectedly. Her mother, Tess, passed away soon after as much from a broken heart as anything else. Carmel's depression and increased drinking is putting a strain on her marriage, her friendships and her job. As she says in the book, she unravelled, stitch after stitch.

In going through Tess's things she is shocked to discover her mother had given birth to another brother back in Ireland. The horrifying Mother and Baby Home / Magdalene Laundry chapter of Irish history rears its ugly head here. We learn that when Tess became pregnant at age sixteen she was sent by her family and priest to be taken care in by the nuns.  There she was beaten and abused until her baby was torn from her, most probably adopted. The fate of that baby haunted Tess until her dying day.

The anguish and mental repercussions suffered by Tess are heartbreaking. We are more intrigued by her as Carmel focuses on finding out what happened to her brother. There is also a lot to like about Carmel, especially the way she picks herself up from despair and pushes onward.  We do see her marital problems much earlier than she does, however, and frankly those passages are not nearly as strong or interesting as the rest of the storyline.

Four stars. Annette Sills shows us the human cost for the blind faith people put into the Church in Ireland. God bless Tess and the thousands like her trampled in the name of propriety.

Thank you to Poolbeg Press, NetGalley, and Annette Sills for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. #Irishfiction #NetGalley.

A tale of Tess who was forced to give up her child to adoption and how it was kept a secret until she died and then her daughter unravels the mystery surrounding her long lost sibling
Wonderfully written and a happy ending!

. Descriptive of The Irish mother baby houses it's shows both the strength and sorrow oh the human spirit I enjoyed this book very well written.. A page turner for me.

If you know anything at all about the Magdelen Laundries in Ireland, you will have an idea of how this story is going to unfold. If you don't, then you are going to have your eyes opened to the sheer nastiness of the Catholic church, and the nuns who ran the laundries.

Young unmarried pregnant women and girls were bought to the laundries and left there, to work until giving birth, have their baby taken off them, and then work afterwards. No rest, no excuse, because they were fallen women - let's forget that often the babies were a result of rape, or incest. Women were always punished. The Catholic Church made sure of that.

It's a powerful and true story, well told.

I really enjoyed this book. I wish it had less foul language, but I enjoyed the plot. A great story about the strength of family bonds and forgiveness.

Irish mother and Baby homes were one of the worst places to be sent as an unmarried pregnant girl. You worked long and hard hours in all kinds of weather with the barest of food and clothing. Than, your baby was ripped from your hands and was sold to whoever paid the highest price. The mother's were told their baby's had died.
A great story.

I was captivated straight away. I couldn't put this down! The story is about Carmel whose marriage of 20 years is breaking down and about her mother and brother who have passed away recently. She was very close to them both. As she is clearing her mums house she comes across a letter which changes everything. She finds out her mother had a secret baby in Ireland when she was 16 in one of the mother and baby homes which were run by the church at the time. Carmel realises why her mum had so many mental illnesses throughout her life she must have had to give this baby up which caused her a lot of mental trauma. But the more Carmel starts digging up the past about the mother and baby homes she finds out there were illegal adoptions and a mass grave of 800 babies that was recently discovered. The truth about what happened to her mothers baby seems like a sad ending and one she will never find out!
Carmel will need to keep digging if she is to find out what happened to her secret brother all those years ago. I will not say anymore but you will have to read the book to find out what happens next!

I would highly recommend reading this book you will not be disappointed.

I hadn't read much about the mother and baby homes from the past but after reading this book I definitely want to find out more about this part of history that is rarely spoken about.
Thank you net galley for this copy and an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
The history of the mother and baby homes always holds a lot of tragedy and this fictional portrayal does as well. The falsified death records, the selling of babies, it all makes people's lives and histories very difficult to unravel.
Not to give any spoilers, I'll just say there are other major events that happen in Carmel's life while she is digging to find the truth of her family.

A book about secrets and finding yourself even through the path to get there is not easy. The treatment of unwed mothers and their babies is a sad part of Ireland’s history. This book unravels the past about Carmel’s mother but in doing so brings to light Carmel’s own past and enables her move forward .

I enjoyed this read. I was invested in Carmels story and her search for her sibling she never knew she had. It was an insight into how people were treated and the illegal adoptions that took place and the idea that many people would never have known their true identities. Carmel had so many tragedies thrown her way over the past years and I was rooting for things to get better and I was not disappointed at the end. Thoroughly enjoyable read and would reccomend. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this title in rreturn for my review.

Knowing several friends who have given up babies for adoption or are the babies given up made this book resonate with me. I liked this book enough to keep reading day and night to learn more.

Heart-renching story of the forced removal of babies from their unwed mothers. Powerful saga that is rich and captivating. Emotional, immersive, and hard to put down. Wonderfully written and captivating