HELLO YOU

by Rebecca Gregson

Judy Astley says : " I completely loved it."

As a mother on the brink of an empty nest, Maggie Day subconsciously makes herself as indispensable as possible. Nurse, babysitter, counsellor, taxi cab or bank, her need to be needed drives her family crazy, if not away.

It's too easy to blame her unconventional childhood so no-one does. The fifth of five daughters, she was adopted at birth by a childless aunt and raised as a cousin to her four sisters. The truth spilled out but the questions have never been asked. Why was she not wanted enough by her natural parents? Was she a surrogate baby or just one girl too many? Exactly who did who the favour?

Approaching fifty, Maggie pushes a sense of not being quite good enough to the far reaches of her mind. Then one sister dies and leaves her a box of private diaries. Piecing together her birth mother's inner life, she stumbles across an extraordinary secret. She was not the only baby to be given away...

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Rebecca Gregson is a former BBC and newspaper journalist. She lives in Cornwall with her husband and two children. Her bestselling debut Katherine's Wheel and Zebras Crossing are also available from Pocket Books....

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very wrong with my first impression of this book that I picked off the library shelf. The cover was in bright primary colours, with Lowry like figures, and the style of the blurb led me to expect a feisty tale of how 50 year old Maggie, a special needs teacher, coped with divorce, the death of a sister and impending departure of her sons from her home - a kind of older version of chick lit. I was puzzled by the prologue, followed by a chapter which did not seem to link to anything that had gone before, focusing on 19 year old Jamie and his partner, schoolgirl mother Jesse. The realisation of whose son he in fact was came quite late on in the early chapters. It was a far darker novel of family relationships than I first thought and I came close to giving up on it, but I was keen to find out the mystery in the family background, and so did rush through it, perhaps missing some of the nuances. Maggie finally discovered the answer to her need to be needed. The best bit - the portrayal of Jamie with his love for his toddler son Ben. Overall there were sad overtones to the book. I admired the fact that the author tackled a different theme but I cannot say I was drawn into the book, as was promised.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can see where this book is going from the first few pages, but it gets to the end in a pleasant enough way.

[Mcos5 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a strange book. Very difficult to connect with any of the characters.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly offbeat but a touching tale.

[Rita Mahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you love British authors like Marcia Willett, Rosamunde Pilcher, etc. you'll like Rebecca Gregson.
Very engaging.