Families come together in different ways. The Daughter She Gave Away was an unexpected blessing, and a heartbreaking decision was made during a crisis.
Lisa Timomey has written this masterfully, understanding the complicated family dynamics when someone else intrudes into the sanctity of a marriage, where families grow through adversity, where mental health should be a priority, and where we should give others grace for some mistakes.
I cried with these characters, felt their pain, and felt the promise of a better tomorrow at the end.

Not read anything by Lisa Timoney before but will look out for more. A great read which tore at the heartstrings of from the start.
When Cassie finds out her husband is cheating on her it brings a whole catalogue of emotions for her. Changing the path of her whole life.
A beautiful story full of emotion.
Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this beautiful book.

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. This was an engaging family drama. The concept was interesting and handled sensitively by Timoney. Although the Cassie's husband could be a bit irritating, I felt the characters were written well; I was particularly drawn to Becca. I am keen to read more by this author.

This was a heartbreaking and at the same time a heartwarming story full of twists and turns. A real emotional roller coaster which I found difficult to put down. A real family drama full of love and compassion. I was captivated from the very beginning. I loved it.

Meg has received a devastating diagnosis and has kept a secret from her daughter Grace for the 14 years she has lived. Meg decides to produce videos for Grace to explain why she isn’t her biological mother and what happened in the past.
Cassie has kept many secrets for the last fourteen years from her husband and friends about the baby girl she had and the truth of what really happened.
Does time heal all wounds only time will tell when you are forced to share your stories.
Thank you NetGalley for ARC of this great story.

A very emotional read.
Simon and Cassie were married, when Cassie got pregnant she found out Simon was having an affair with Meg, she couldn't cope and had a breakdown agreeing to give her baby Grace to Simon and Meg and not having any contact with her.
Fourteen years later when Cassie had married and had a son Simon got in touch with Cassie to say Meg had died and her daughter needs her, before Meg died she left videos of her life and telling her who her real mother is.
Cassie finds it difficult to accept Grace and everything is very emotional, a brilliant story.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC and I give my honest review.

I was drawn to this book by the title and adoption theme and I wasn’t disappointed.

The characters are well drawn, rounded and flawed and the story evolved in a well paced way that held my interest.

Earlier in the book a string of ‘misfortune’ affected one of the main characters that was a reminder of how things can go wrong when life is going well, and escalate seemingly from out of nowhere to the point that someone previously well thought of at work was suddenly facing the possibility of losing their career.

The relationships are well described and interwoven and whilst some of the subject matter is sad, it’s also a hopeful book. I really enjoyed it.

This is an emotional read by Lisa Timoney. it's full of lies and secrets . It's a great story, although it made me cry

Great story. Sad but fulfilling. A true mom making hard decisions for her child. Learning about trust and honesty. I recommend reading

Phew! That was an emotional rollercoaster and then some! As I mop up my tears, I’m also smiling at the wonder of a mother’s love.

When Meg receives a terminal diagnosis, her priority is to make sure that her 14 year old daughter, Grace, is surrounded by as much love as possible. And that means telling the truth; Meg isn’t Grace’s birth mother.

Cassie hasn’t told her second husband, Luke, about Grace and so there are revelations on “both sides”, which are utterly heart-wrenching, as the two families navigate their way through the myriad of emotions and learn to love and trust each other.

The character development in this gorgeous book was incredible and that was essential to give this book the hard-hitting punch that it has. As a mother myself, I was always terrified of an illness that would force me to leave my children while they were young and Meg’s video messages to Grace pushed every emotional button I have.

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Lisa Timoney and Boldwood for an ARC in return for an honest review.

"The Daughter She Gave Away" is an emotional, heart wrenching story about a woman named Cassie, her ex husband Simon and Meg. Cassie has mental health issues resulting from the past and struggles to heal in the present because of them. This book is written with so much emotion that it made me cry and smile all in the one book. It's an absolute gripping page turner that I recommend anyone who loves emotional fiction to read!

The Daughter She Gave Away has a strong emotional core and an intriguing premise centered around past mistakes, forgiveness, and second chances. Jessi Timoney does a good job portraying complex relationships, particularly between mothers and daughters, and the pain of long-buried secrets coming to light. Fans of family dramas and emotional storytelling may find enough here to enjoy the journey. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review. To be published June 2025.

Review of ‘The Daughter She Gave Away’ by Lisa Timoney, due to be published on 13 June 2025 by Boldwood Books.

Cassie is a teacher, married with a 7 year old boy, living a perfect life until her first love sends her an email that sends her mental health into a downward spiral, bad judgement, reliving her past and impacting those around her who love her.

A beautifully written story of loss, grief, self doubt, heartbreak, acceptance and love.

Recommended read.

Meg finds out she's dying and knows she needs to tell her daughter Grace the truth about her birth. Cassie has a wonderful life with her husband and son until an email comes from her ex husband and things start to unravel. Emotional and heartbreaking

What a beautiful read. When Grace's mum Meg is dying she decides to make a video explaining to her daughter what happened at her birth and how she came to be her mum which devastes her but Cassie her birth mother has never told her husband Luke the truth about what happened and when he finally finds out will they be able to get through it together and can Cassie and Grace finally have a relationship. It's a beautifully written novel ,heartbreaking at tmes and I found the circumstances surrounding the birth of her daughter and how Cassie suffered wes such an emotional but important subject Highly recommend this book 5v🌟from mev

The Daughter She Gave Away by Lisa Timoney is a heartbreaking tale of love and loss that centres around a thought provoking moral quandary and the lasting consequences of decisions made in the moment.
The book opens with Meg, a woman making a video for her daughter Grace as she faces her last few weeks following a terminal diagnosis. Grace is beloved by her parents, Meg and Simon, but she does not know that they have been keeping a secret from her for years, she does not know that Meg is not her biological mother. That would be Cassie, Simon's first wife.
Cassie's life is thrown into turmoil when she opens an email from Simon letting her know that Meg has died and Grace knows the truth. He has reached out hoping that Cassie will agree to meet with Grace despite her having terminated all parental rights because she did not want her daughter. This would be difficult enough but in the intervening years Cassie has remarried and had a son, and neither of them know that Grace exists, instead Cassie told her husband Luke that Grace was stillborn. Trapped in a web of her own lies she risks destroying her marriage if she comes clean but can she turn away from a young woman in distress?
This is a very emotional read, and I appreciated that the characters of Meg and Cassie both felt quite real and grounded, both had flaws and issues that meant they were believable and relatable, even if they were sometimes not very likeable. The focus is very much on Cassie and her story for much of the book and seeing how her character grows over the course of the story kept me reading. I thought the portrayal of her life as a teacher was spot on and it shone a real light on how difficult that job can be at times. Seeing her career and marriage implode as she struggled to come to terms with her past choices made for really compelling reading and meant that I devoured this book. I have no hesitation in recommending it to readers who enjoy a good family drama.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC.

When 35 year old Meg finds out that she has terminal cancer, she makes a series of videos for her beloved 14 year old daughter Grace. She tells her what had been a secret until then - that her birth mother is a woman called Cassie who used to be married to husband Simon, but she rejected the child when her marriage fell apart due to his cheating on her with Meg.

Five months after Meg's death, Simon sends a pleading email to Cassie out of the blue, asking her for help with Grace who is increasingly withdrawn. It shakes up Cassie's world and brings up old wounds. She is happily married to calm counsellor Luke, they have a 7 year old son called Alf and she is a teacher. She doesn't want to think about Grace because she never told Luke about the fact she's still alive - Luke somehow thinks she died at birth. The emotional fallout from this email is huge - will their marriage survive it?

The melodramatic blurb concentrates on Meg when in the book the story concentrates on Cassie, and rightly so. The blurb paints Meg as a bit of a saint who took on a child unwanted by her mother but the reality is that she was cheating with Cassie's husband Simon, and when Cassie fell into a deep depression, took the opportunity to take the child she had fallen in love with from her unstable mother instead of offering help for her mental health crisis.

This is extremely well-written, and I would read a shopping list if written by this author under whichever of her pen names. There are two timelines, present day and six months ago, plus countless flashbacks but it never gets confusing. I loved the insight into Cassie's school world, with unruly pupils, lots of rules and teacher pals.

We also see the impact Cassie and Luke's increasingly shaky marriage has on their young son who can't understand what's going on but senses that something isn't right, and starts acting out and avoiding school. Luke is a lovely man but his constant therapy speak and insistence on absolute honesty grated after a while.

I liked Cassie but I got no real sense of Simon and Meg and I wonder whether it was a conscious choice by the author. There was a lot of emotional conflict that directly resulted from their affair and I would have liked a bit more than "we just couldn't help ourselves". You always have a choice.

The book kept me engaged throughout and I cared about Cassie and the outcome of her disciplinary hearing at school just as much as about whether she would restart contact with her daughter. Recommended if you like emotional family dramas.

4.5 stars

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of The Daughter She Gave Away.
This book was a very emotional read. It deals with depression and keeping secrets, among other things. It was a hard read at some points, but I also did not want to put it down. I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't mind crying while they read.

Wow what a book! I couldn't put it down. I finished it before work this morning and my eyes are still red raw from crying so hard. It had me on an emotional rollercoaster and I felt all the emotions. What a beautiful book!

I really enjoyed this book. It was suspenseful and gripping and it most definitely kept me engaged throughout.
I will be checking out more of Lisa's books!