What do you think?
Rate this book
Secrets, Spies and Spotted Dogs
A simple need for her birth certificate leads Jane, aged 19, to a devastating secret: she is adopted. Stunned, Jane is sworn to secrecy and forbidden to search for her biological family - a promise she honours until the death of her adoptive parents. A heart-wrenching family crisis and a longing to know her origins then drive Jane to painstakingly research her roots in Rhodesia, Johannesburg, London, Berlin and Sydney. Who were her biological parents, and why had she been adopted? And who imposed the conditions for her adoption and why?
Almost forty years after finding out about her adoption, Jane is welcomed warmly into her biological mother's family in London. Astonished, Jane is told her talented, complex and attractive mother was a British spy sent to Arnhem in the Netherlands just prior to the 'Market Garden' airborne invasion during WWII.
Secrets, Spies and Spotted Dogs interweaves the raw emotion of adoptee discovery, the heart-pounding threads of WWII espionage at Arnhem, and the author's poignant search for truth and identity.
Almost forty years after finding out about her adoption, Jane is welcomed warmly into her biological mother's family in London. Astonished, Jane is told her talented, complex and attractive mother was a British spy sent to Arnhem in the Netherlands just prior to the 'Market Garden' airborne invasion during WWII.
Secrets, Spies and Spotted Dogs interweaves the raw emotion of adoptee discovery, the heart-pounding threads of WWII espionage at Arnhem, and the author's poignant search for truth and identity.
306 pages, Paperback
First published July 23, 2014
7 people are currently reading
3080 people want to read
About the author
Jane Eales
2 books90 followersNow an award winning author, Jane was born and adopted in London, in 1947. Her family emigrated to Zimbabwe, where she grew up, and at 18 she left home to live in South Africa. She met Rob there, and they married in Oxford, returned to South Africa, and ten years later in 1980, they emigrated with their family to Sydney Australia.
When she met her biological family in 2005 she stopped work. She was flooded with family stories, and as a way of making sense of everything, she began to write. As layer upon layer of family history emerged, she was often asked ‘why don’t you write a book?’ and Secrets, Spies and Spotted Dogs is the result. A serendipitous outcome in her search for identity emerged in 2008 when she began to draw and paint.
Secrets, Spies and Spotted Dogs was recently judged a Winner in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards in New York - the largest not-for-profit book awards program open to independently published authors worldwide.
Although Secrets, Spies and Spotted Dogs is her first book, she has had numerous media exposure in Australia including Television (Channel 9), Radio National (including 'Conversations with Richard Fidler'), local newspapers and magazines. (For other information about the book, news, book club discussion questions, etc. see www.middleharbourpress.com)
Jane and her husband live in Sydney.
When she met her biological family in 2005 she stopped work. She was flooded with family stories, and as a way of making sense of everything, she began to write. As layer upon layer of family history emerged, she was often asked ‘why don’t you write a book?’ and Secrets, Spies and Spotted Dogs is the result. A serendipitous outcome in her search for identity emerged in 2008 when she began to draw and paint.
Secrets, Spies and Spotted Dogs was recently judged a Winner in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards in New York - the largest not-for-profit book awards program open to independently published authors worldwide.
Although Secrets, Spies and Spotted Dogs is her first book, she has had numerous media exposure in Australia including Television (Channel 9), Radio National (including 'Conversations with Richard Fidler'), local newspapers and magazines. (For other information about the book, news, book club discussion questions, etc. see www.middleharbourpress.com)
Jane and her husband live in Sydney.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 22, 2015
https://soundcloud.com/666abccanberra...
Hi Jane,
I have just finished your book.
It captivated me from the the start. At times it was heart wrenching.
Jane I applaud your bravery to put pen to paper. It was so well written and researched.
I learnt things about WW2 that made me shake my head in disbelief.
What a journey you have been on.
I spoke to a friend this morning in Qld. She is is an avid reader and just started the book and like me she was captivated.
She said she couldn't put it down. Testament to the author.
I was intrigued right to the end.
Bravo Jane.
AE
Hi Jane,
I have just finished your book.
It captivated me from the the start. At times it was heart wrenching.
Jane I applaud your bravery to put pen to paper. It was so well written and researched.
I learnt things about WW2 that made me shake my head in disbelief.
What a journey you have been on.
I spoke to a friend this morning in Qld. She is is an avid reader and just started the book and like me she was captivated.
She said she couldn't put it down. Testament to the author.
I was intrigued right to the end.
Bravo Jane.
AE
January 4, 2015
Jane's book is an extremely well researched and written account of her journey to discover the story of her mother. It will be interesting to many readers on all sorts of levels, be it adoption, war stories, or the anguish of the author wanting to find out more - I too would have loved to have known more about Pyllis and stones of her life.
September 13, 2015
Time and energy to figure out the pieces of her past, late in life, after being adopted at a young age. What a fascinating mother Janes Eales had.
Loved the detail of the unknown side of the war.
The reality of Jane not getting to personally meet her mother, kept me reading on wanting her to find her father's identity.
Great writing and quite a compilation of family members lives to pass on to future and present family members.
Hopefully someone reads this and can further shine light on her unanswered questions regarding her father.
I recommend this book, you don't have to be adopted to enjoy this read.
Loved the detail of the unknown side of the war.
The reality of Jane not getting to personally meet her mother, kept me reading on wanting her to find her father's identity.
Great writing and quite a compilation of family members lives to pass on to future and present family members.
Hopefully someone reads this and can further shine light on her unanswered questions regarding her father.
I recommend this book, you don't have to be adopted to enjoy this read.
September 20, 2017
Family secrets? Every family has them. What is it like to find out at age nineteen, that your parents are not your birth parents, and what’s more, that you have been sworn to secrecy? Furthermore, your parents demand that you never search for your birth parents. This is the story behind Secrets, Spies and Spotted Dogs.
I was happy when I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
I was happy when I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
January 15, 2018
I was lucky enough to receive a signed copy of this excellent book which I thoroughly enjoyed.
The author's accessible and informal style made reading it a pleasure. I was struck by her courage and candour. Her story also provided a fascinating insight into changes in social attitudes over the decades.
Recommended.
The author's accessible and informal style made reading it a pleasure. I was struck by her courage and candour. Her story also provided a fascinating insight into changes in social attitudes over the decades.
Recommended.
April 10, 2019
Be Careful What Questions You Ask
Answers....not always what you expect or want but what you get when questions are asked. Jane Eales does an admiral job in conveying the emotions involved in searching out lost family members and her family's history. A slow read, at times, but from the heart.
Answers....not always what you expect or want but what you get when questions are asked. Jane Eales does an admiral job in conveying the emotions involved in searching out lost family members and her family's history. A slow read, at times, but from the heart.
May 28, 2017
It started out very promising. As I am from Rhodesia, I was intrigued by the memories. It got a bit long-winded through the telling and lost a bit of oomph. There were some parts that could have been edited or better phrased to engage the reader. An interesting read all the same.
March 22, 2018
An interesting read, amazing how persistent Jane was in her quest to find answers to her origan. Well worth the read and an eye opener for me to understand the feelings and the thoughts adoptees must experience on learning that they are not who they thought they were.
March 27, 2022
I keep getting nearly finished with a review of this book and having it disappear from my screen. I’ll try again some other time.
March 11, 2025
Jane Eales captivates her readers. Eales shares her struggles regarding discovering her birth parents. In the process, the readers learn war history and spy history. A good read.
January 2, 2015
This is a book written with many emotions. As a memoir it is a tour de force of forensic family history focused on uncovering the truth of the author's biological parentage. As a journey of self discovery it is a deeply personal narrative.
The author's perseverance is daunting, no matter how many dead ends she encounters she always comes up with another approach, another way to search. Her task is complex stretching over the UK, Europe and Africa and the truth is well buried. I admired how mindful the author was of the impact her investigation might have on others. Only when she had sufficient collaborated evidence and after thoughtful consideration did did she approach a potential relative.
But it is the author's personal journey that is as compelling. As the factual details emerge along with them comes the recognition of how the hidden truth of her adoption and its related secrets distorted, even undermined, her relationship with her otherwise loving adoptive family. Her feelings of not fully belonging, the disconnects, the odd moments that had always been part of her life begin to make sense. This is an emotional process and the author deals with her emotions maturely and honestly.
The mother she discovers turns out to be an exceptional woman, human certainly, like most of us a collage of sometimes conflicting strengths and weaknesses, and to some degree a product of our early nurturing. The author learns a great deal about her mother, but also about people, and I suspect readers will gain something of that as well. I know I have.
This is a mature affirming narrative, one lovingly and positively written. It is no doubt a gift to the members of the author's extended family, present and future, but as well to other "late discovery adoptees" who are traveling this path themselves.
The author has put a lot of herself into this book. But it is apparent, especially from the excellent Epilogue, that the effort has given her as much as she's given it.
The author's perseverance is daunting, no matter how many dead ends she encounters she always comes up with another approach, another way to search. Her task is complex stretching over the UK, Europe and Africa and the truth is well buried. I admired how mindful the author was of the impact her investigation might have on others. Only when she had sufficient collaborated evidence and after thoughtful consideration did did she approach a potential relative.
But it is the author's personal journey that is as compelling. As the factual details emerge along with them comes the recognition of how the hidden truth of her adoption and its related secrets distorted, even undermined, her relationship with her otherwise loving adoptive family. Her feelings of not fully belonging, the disconnects, the odd moments that had always been part of her life begin to make sense. This is an emotional process and the author deals with her emotions maturely and honestly.
The mother she discovers turns out to be an exceptional woman, human certainly, like most of us a collage of sometimes conflicting strengths and weaknesses, and to some degree a product of our early nurturing. The author learns a great deal about her mother, but also about people, and I suspect readers will gain something of that as well. I know I have.
This is a mature affirming narrative, one lovingly and positively written. It is no doubt a gift to the members of the author's extended family, present and future, but as well to other "late discovery adoptees" who are traveling this path themselves.
The author has put a lot of herself into this book. But it is apparent, especially from the excellent Epilogue, that the effort has given her as much as she's given it.
August 25, 2015
This is the true story of one woman’s search for her birth family which crosses continents from South Africa and Rhodesia, to Australia, the UK, and Holland. Jane Eales discovered she was adopted when she was 19. Her adoptive parents made her swear never to tell anyone else about her adoption and never to search for her birth parents.
She lived with the uncertainty of not knowing for 40 years until, when both her adoptive parents were dead, she started to search. The journey crosses continents as she uncovers a family’s pre-World War Two flight as Hitler threatens, the politics of Southern Africa, and spying during WW2. The ‘Spotted Dogs’ in the title is a reference to Dalmatian dogs; the author’s birth mother, Phyllis, was a renowned UK dog breeder.
For Jane Eales, the promise she made to her adoptive parents was a difficult one to break. They were the only parents she had known, they cared for her, she loved them though she found it difficult to accept and understand their need for secrecy when it made her own life so ill-defined. What prompted her to search? With a learning-disabled son, she was advised to check her own genetic history.
The story is told slowly and carefully, starting with her own childhood and her adopted father’s Jewish family, leading first to a half-brother, cousins, before identifying her birth mother Phyllis. Although this is fascinating, and adds to the final picture, I wanted to get to the bit about spying promised in the book’s title. For that I had to be patient. At times, the book has the feeling of ‘my family’s story’, but the author’s honesty about coming to terms with the decisions taken in the 1940s when times were very different, make this book a worthy read for anyone interested in autobiographies about adoption or family history.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-revie...
She lived with the uncertainty of not knowing for 40 years until, when both her adoptive parents were dead, she started to search. The journey crosses continents as she uncovers a family’s pre-World War Two flight as Hitler threatens, the politics of Southern Africa, and spying during WW2. The ‘Spotted Dogs’ in the title is a reference to Dalmatian dogs; the author’s birth mother, Phyllis, was a renowned UK dog breeder.
For Jane Eales, the promise she made to her adoptive parents was a difficult one to break. They were the only parents she had known, they cared for her, she loved them though she found it difficult to accept and understand their need for secrecy when it made her own life so ill-defined. What prompted her to search? With a learning-disabled son, she was advised to check her own genetic history.
The story is told slowly and carefully, starting with her own childhood and her adopted father’s Jewish family, leading first to a half-brother, cousins, before identifying her birth mother Phyllis. Although this is fascinating, and adds to the final picture, I wanted to get to the bit about spying promised in the book’s title. For that I had to be patient. At times, the book has the feeling of ‘my family’s story’, but the author’s honesty about coming to terms with the decisions taken in the 1940s when times were very different, make this book a worthy read for anyone interested in autobiographies about adoption or family history.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-revie...
January 8, 2015
What a great read! I almost felt as if I knew the author's families as the story unfolded, it was so compelling and involving for me as the reader. A real page-turner, it was a book I didn't want to put down, but also didn't want to finish. I had great admiration for the sensitivity of the author towards everyone's position while so candidly expressing the raw emotions created by her experiences. She truly exposed the lifelong impacts of adoption, and very cleverly unravelled the secrets and deception that had plagued her throughout her life. Despite the turmoil it presented, Jane Eales bravely pursued her goal of seaching for her origins, respectfully, thoughtfully and often joyfully as she connected and built warm and lasting relationships with her "lost" relatives. With WW2 history interwoven, and spanning three continents this book will appeal to a wide readership. And it seems there could be more secrets still to unravel .... I want to know what happens next .... will the author ultimately discover who her father was?
August 20, 2015
Family secrets? Every family has them. What is it like to find out at age nineteen, that your parents are not your birth parents, and what’s more, that you have been sworn to secrecy? Furthermore, your parents demand that you never search for your birth parents. This is the story behind Secrets, Spies and Spotted Dogs.
This is Jane Eales own story. The author carefully researched her book, and in writing it, shared the shame and isolation she felt not being able to discuss her adoption with her friends. It is a chronicle of her painstaking search for her birth parents.
Secrets, Spies and Spotted Dogs is a well written, easy to read memoir that anyone can enjoy, but that would be of great interest to those who have been adopted and to birth and adopting families.
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
This is Jane Eales own story. The author carefully researched her book, and in writing it, shared the shame and isolation she felt not being able to discuss her adoption with her friends. It is a chronicle of her painstaking search for her birth parents.
Secrets, Spies and Spotted Dogs is a well written, easy to read memoir that anyone can enjoy, but that would be of great interest to those who have been adopted and to birth and adopting families.
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
November 10, 2015
I was happy when I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. My family is big into genealogy research, and have recently found cousins and other family members who had been separated by adoption and other factors, so this book sounded right down my alley.
Unfortunately, I just couldn't keep interested in it. The plot drug along slowly. I kept putting the book down, then a few days later I would pick it up again. I never did get 'pulled in' to the story. What shouldn't have been very interesting was bogged down by too many unnecessary details.
I was hoping for better.
Unfortunately, I just couldn't keep interested in it. The plot drug along slowly. I kept putting the book down, then a few days later I would pick it up again. I never did get 'pulled in' to the story. What shouldn't have been very interesting was bogged down by too many unnecessary details.
I was hoping for better.
July 17, 2015
This is a wonderful book about a woman in search of her birth mother and it is a most inspiring achievement. The author's mother comes across as a talented and intelligent woman with great vivacity and charm, but the portrait of her is honest and realistic. Her war experiences are well researched and as full as possible. The author's inevitable doubts actually give them verisimilitude. The book should greatly appeal to all those in search of their birth parents. It is very well told, extremely moving and I greatly recommend it.
June 11, 2015
The subject matter was interesting to me as, surprisingly my story is very similar. However, I found the writing stilted at times with rather strange short sentences and then at times too much detail about subjects that took us away from the emotional aspects of the story. I have immense understanding about some of the connections that Jane was endeavouring to make but I was a bit bogged down by them also. Pleased that I have read it now.
December 15, 2015
I wanted to read more about the search for Phyllis Margaret and less of the history lesson thrown in.
September 4, 2016
This should have been a great book. The excitement of the story was lost in a long drawn out explanation over way too many cups of tea!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews