1941 and the sirens are wailing, indicting another bombing attack on Plymouth and its harbor from the Nazis. The Shawbrook family rushes to the public shelter. They have seven children with five living at home. Everyone has their job to do when the sirens sound. Mrs. Shawbrook gets the little ones together and takes them to the shelter. Vera, who is seventeen, grabs up baby Freddy and meets the others there.
But things go massively wrong this night. Vera is coming home late from her job when the sirens go. She rushes to the shelter, assuming her mother got Freddy. When her mother tells her that she thought Vera had Freddy, Vera rushes out of the shelter trying to get back to the house before the bombs fall, but she is unsuccessful.

In another house, Maggie doesn't care enough to go to the shelter and just goes to her basement. She already feels like the unluckiest person in the world. Earlier this year, after several miscarriages, she finally carried a baby to term. But her son died the next day and life has not seemed worth living to Maggie since.

After the sirens stop, the work of cleaning up and rescue starts. Unbelievably, the public shelter took a direct hit and all the members of the Shawbrook family there are killed. David Shawbrook is a warden and cannot believe his family has all been wiped out. He doesn't know that Freddy somehow survived in the damaged house and was rescued by a young boy and a police sergeant.

The policeman was Maggie's husband and he brings Freddy home for the night as the public assistance homes are overwhelmed. Maggie is overjoyed and wants to keep the baby. Of course, her husband says no but in a twist of fate, he is killed himself the next day. Maggie decides to keep the baby and name it the same as her son.

It turns out that Vera survives after being hurt in the street. She, her father, and a sister who was a nurse in another city but who moves home, go to the police and try to find Freddy. But Maggie is determined to move heaven and earth to keep him. Who will end up with the baby?

This novel is based on a true story. Readers will get a sense of the panic and hardship that civilians went through during World War II and the bombing of cities. Those of us in the United States have been lucky enough to avoid the bombing and misery of modern warfare directed against our country and it is instructive to read of the tragedies and heartbreak that happened elsewhere. This book is recommended to readers of historical fiction.

This is a story that had me in my feelings. It was well written and all that but I didn't enjoy the novel. Stealing a baby..? One woman loses her baby, and essentially takes another woman's child so she won't be sad anymore. But what of the child's real mother? She's devastated, needing her baby back. And It took forever for any real truths to come out. I can't abide the selfishness of humanity, and it's really gross how the author tries to gain sympathy for the woman who originally loses her baby and comes across this new one, saved from the rubble of a bombed home during wartime. No, it's not right. I'm not a mother myself, but I couldn't imagine. Sure, foster the poor chap, but it's wartime! No bodies are found in the rubble so there's a big chance that baby's family is alive and desperately searching for him and you fkn KNOW IT YOU COW ohhhhmygod, there I go, back in my feelings again... 😭🤦🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤬

Thanks netgalley, etc.

What, she couldn't have put up a few lost and found signs????

I did not like the narrator for this book so I didn’t finish it. I would give it another try and read the book.

This audio book was provided to m by Netgalley and the publisher for my honest review. I enjoyed the reading of this book because I always knew who was speaking by the reader's change of voice for each character. The story was good if predictable. Getting to the conclusion was exciting. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction, suspense, family drama.

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for this advance listener copy in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book. It wasn't a favorite of mine, but it was interesting. The plot was unique and really set it apart form other WWII fiction. There was no talk of concentration camps, Nazis, Jews or the Holocaust. This was a simple story of a woman who kidnapped a child during the war. The only focuses on the war itself was the mention of air raid sirens and a brief scene upon a warship. The rest of this was a family drama of a family searching for their lost child and the woman who was raising the child as her own.

This was a complicated story that would almost seem unbelievable if it were written about any other time period. During war, there is mass confusion and this was a story of a woman taking advantage of that.

The characters were realistic and I found my self sympathizing with them frequently, even Maggie, the woman who takes the baby. She was just a grieving mother who wanted her child back.

This book really delves into loss and what it was like to lose people during the war. It was a sad story with a happy ending. All in all, three stars. The audio was average, but it fit well with the story itself.

Interesting plot about a baby accidentally being left in its crib during an air raid and its mother dying during the same raid. The baby is found by a warden who brings it home to his wife who has just lost a baby of her own. She wants to keep the baby but the warden says it must be reported. Unfortunately he dies before he can report it. His wife is determined to keep the baby and not tell anyone that it's not hers. I have to admit I then abandoned this book as I was listening to it in audiobook format and it was just too slow for my liking. I'm sure it will appeal to other more patient readers/listeners though.

This was a really good book that I enjoyed listening to. The story was very good and the narrator was excellent .

This took me a bit to get into but ended up loving. The fact that it is based off true events made it even better. Even though this is a story during the war, it focuses on the story of a missing baby after a bombing in the city. I was not very fond of the two mothers in the story. One obviously stole a child and ran away when she knew people were looking for the child. The other was young and whiny and annoying. However! They were essential to the story.

The Shawbrook family has a plan for when the sirens go off. Everyone is responsible for somebody. So, when Vera was late one evening because she was partying, Freddie was not picked up out of his crib. He was left at home during the air raid. The next day, a cop happens to hear a baby crying inside the bombed house. He scoops up Freddie. Instead of taking him to one of the shelters, he takes him home to his depressed wife, Maggie.

As you can guess, this story twists around and due to some extreme circumstances, Maggie keeps this sweet baby to raise on her own. But, it does not stop any of his family from searching for him.

I enjoyed the hunt in this story. The process of elimination and the deductions were used to create a unique tale. You will just have to read this to find out how all this works out!

The only issue I had with the narrator was Vera’s voice. But, it may be that I just disliked Vera. But, when Vera was mad the narrator tended to get shrill. But, that is just minor. But, honestly it could be that I really disliked Vera. I found her overbearing and selfish. And sometimes…plain rude!

Need an all around good story…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

4.25 STARS

Set against a WWII backdrop, “The Stolen Baby” is based on a factual story, boasting an intriguing premise that pulled me in right from the very start. Despite some improbable situations and the lack of any true surprises, the story itself is both heartbreaking and truly compelling. The audio narrator did a decent job of drawing me deeper into the story, and her appropriately accented voice added to my overall listening experience.

This is a lovely story set in World War Two. A historical tale of love, life and family. What does motherhood look like? What scarifies will we do as parents? Love historical fiction you will love this book

I listened to the audio ARC through Netgalley. The Stolen Baby is a heart wrenching story about a baby that gets left at home during an air raid strike during WWII in England. The narrator does an excellent job as the narrator for this story and made me feel like I was there as she would be talking. In the confusion of an air raid strike, baby Freddy gets left at home. A kind officer finds him the next day and brings him back to his house as the shelters would be packed with people. His wife who had lost a baby 9 months before, believes this is her second chance to be a mum and dreads when she'll have to give the baby back to it's rightful family......or will she try to find a way to keep him as her own?

3.5 stars

I was unexpectedly emotional listening to this audiobook. The first half was heartfelt and pulled at my heart strings. The second half shifted into more of a crime adventure. Both halves were engaging but I wasn’t as emotionally impacted during the second half.

The story takes place in Plymouth during the air raids in WW2, in which many civilians were killed and homes destroyed. Muriel is a nurse in Portsmouth, where she meets the love of her life. As they are making plans to marry, she receives the devastating news that almost her whole family has been killed by a bomb. Meanwhile, Maggie is grieving the loss of her newborn son seven months ago when her husband brings home a rescued baby. She immediately falls in love with the boy and wants to keep him, despite her husband’s plans to take the baby to a home and register him so his real family can find him. The two storylines eventually merge.

The WW2 setting was one I haven’t read about before and I was fascinated by the historical details. Some of the police dialogue towards the end was annoying and frustrating, given their patronizing demeanours. However, I’m sure that it was probably historically accurate. The audio performance was mediocre. I didn’t like some of the character voices, in particular Muriel’s. I think a narrator with a more confident sounding voice would’ve been a better fit.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this book!! It had so many twists and turns. It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next!! This was my first book by this Author, and it won’t be the last!! Quick read!! Highly recommended!! You won’t be disappointed!!

While this story takes place in England during World War II, it focuses less on the war and more on two families affected by the war. A baby is forgotten in it’s crib one night when the family hurried to a shelter during an air raid and is later rescued by a policeman who brings the baby home instead of to a safe house. I thought the characters and story were mostly believable and interesting. However, the narrator had a childish voice which was often annoying. I think I would have enjoyed the story better had I read it, rather than listened to it. Thank you to @netgalley for the free audio version of this book.

This was a very interesting "read" (audio book) about the agony and frustrations that ordinary families faced during the numerous bombings over Plymouth, England during 1941. Does one go to the safety of designated bomb shelters or try and wait the airstrikes out at home.? Either decision has lasting consequences for two women whose lives become unknowingly intertwined.. Two mothers who have suffered the lose of their babies and the search to make things right again. I would definitely recommend this book as it was held your interest throughout.

Books that take place during wartime are not books I usually pick to read/listen to because I find them depressing and hard to listen to at times.. The Stolen Baby sounded too good to pass up and the reviews I read were all 4 and 5 stars so I requested this audiobook from Dreamscape and thankfully they approved.

Maggie and Colin Peterson suffer a devastating loss after the death of their newborn. They move to Plymouth to try to start over but Maggie is beside herself with grief. One night after an air raid, Colin finds a baby left abandoned in one of the houses. He brings the child home to Maggie hoping caring for the infant while looking for its parent’s will bring her out of her misery.

Meanwhile David Shawcross realizes almost his whole family was killed in the last air raid and he believes little baby Freddie was also with the rest of the family until pieces of the puzzle of that night become more clear and he realizes baby Freddie may well still be alive but where could he be?

This story gripped me from the first chapter and never let up. The story was masterfully woven from start to finish and the character development was top notch. I felt like I was transported in time to the 1940’s in the middle of a war. You could feel the struggles from not only the ravages of war but also for the two families holding on to what links them both to a time before the war when anything seemed possible. I cannot recommend this book enough.
If listening to this book, you will not be disappointed as the narrator does an amazing job of altering her voice for every single character making them easy to decipher while listening. She was part of why I loved this story so much.

Thank you Net Galley for an audio copy of The Stolen Baby by Diney Costeloe. She is an accomplished author with multiple books authored with high ratings. This is a5 start book. It is set in wartime with a storyline like I have never read. A stolen baby is the center of this story and I lived it!!

What a riveting audiobook! The narrator was absolutely perfect for this unusual WWII story - men’s inflections as well as women’s. I could think of little else after I’d started to listen! It certainly reminded me that not all the devastation of war is physical.
The baby at the center of this story is first raised by his young grandmother (to protect her unwed daughter’s reputation), and then by a childless woman on the edge of depression. But is that the end of the story? Little Freddy’s family, the few who survived the German bombing that cast him into a stranger’s home, work feverishly to find him. Woven into their efforts are love stories and friendships and miracles that remind us to never give up. I was surprised by some of the kidnapper’s choices near the end of the book, but pleased with the ending. My first book by Diney Costeloe, but certainly not my last! Thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the privilege of an early listen to this marvelous tale.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest thoughts.

The strength of this story is what kept me listening. It was highly engaging, but the whiny characters and eyebrow raising police procedure situations were a bit much. Done differently, this would have easily been a 5-star read because the story is that good.