Tu seras notre enfant

by Charity Norman

A peine venue au monde, Grâce est l'enjeu d'un choix déchirant : qui en aura la garde ? Sa famille biologique ou une famille d'adoption ?

Grâce vient de naître, de père inconnu et d'une mère de seize ans, qui la confie à l'adoption avant de disparaître. La petite fille vient tout juste de voir le jour elle est déjà orpheline.

Un couple en mal d'enfant est sur le point d'adopter Grâce quand son père biologique se manifeste : il n'a que dix-sept ans, mais il est décidé à se battre pour récupérer sa fille.

Qui aura la garde de Grâce ? Son père, si jeune mais débordant d'amour ? Ou ce couple pour qui cette enfant est déjà tout ? Quel sera l'avenir de Grâce ?

Genres: Fiction, Book Club, Contemporary, Family, Audiobook

479 pages, Unknown Binding

First published June 26, 2010

About the author

Charity was born in Uganda, brought up in draughty vicarages in Yorkshire and Birmingham, met her future husband under a lorry in the Sahara. She worked as a barrister in York Chambers, until - realising that her three children had barely met her - she moved with her family to New Zealand and began to write.

After the Fall/Second Chances was a Richard & Judy and World Book Night title, The New Woman/ The Secret Life of Luke Livingstone a BBC Radio 2 choice. See You in September (2017) was shortlisted in the Ngaio Marsh Awards. The Secrets of Strangers was a Radio 2 choice and shortlisted for the Ngaio Marsh and Ned Kelly Awards. Her seventh, Remember Me, was published in March 2022.

Reviews

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this a while back and had forgotten I hadn’t written the review. The story concerns the child Grace Serenity born to a pair of teenagers. Cheri gives birth to Grace Serenity but dies in a car crash soon after she flees the hospital. The chapters alternate between Jake, and Leila the childless Nigerian woman married to David, an English curate. Leila is not your average minister’s wife, if such a thing even exists. Jake is a 40 year old man afraid of commitment who has broken up with Anna and, being jobless, gets roped into going on the quest by Deborah’s husband Perry and other family members. It is a sad story of a child caught between two families. Matt, the young single father,his parents and sister, and the desperate childless couple, David and Leila, who want to adopt Grace.
The book raises issues associated with interracial marriages, childlessness, adoption, parental rights and. It also presents a sad picture and comment on some family relationships.
I found some of the characters like Perry and Deborah, selfish, manipulative and self obsessed in the extreme and wondered why Jake was so fascinated with them. Despite this I became involved in the story and it kept me reading to see what happened, even though I had an idea what that would be. I read it through in a day or so. It’s a good quick read but it still had plenty to think about. It made me angry at times and teary but that just shows I was involved with the story and the characters, even if I didn’t like all of them.

[Audrey Haylins · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is something irrepressibly thrilling about opening a book from a new-to-you author and knowing within a few chapters that you’ve struck pure gold. And that’s exactly how I felt about this beautiful novel by Charity Norman. From the prose to the plot to the protagonists, I loved everything about it. And it was her debut!

It’s impossible not to get drawn into the emotional and moral turmoil of this story, which revolves around mixed-race baby Grace, whose teenage mum is killed in a road accident just hours after giving birth. The baby is immediately taken into care, while decisions are taken about her future. The choices are: adoption by inner-city curate David and his Nigerian wife Leila, or a home with Grace’s 17 year-old father Matt, who with the support of his parents, fights to keep her.

Norman handles the case for both sides with searing sensitivity, causing your allegiances to constantly chop and change as heart and head battle for supremacy. Leila’s voice is especially poignant, conveying the deep sadness of her visceral yearning for a child. But you feel also for Matt, who has fallen hopelessly in love with his daughter but is terrified of the long-term responsibility.

At the end of the day, it is social services and the courts who will decide what is in the best interests of baby Grace.

The narrative swings from one side to the other, but nothing is straightforward, as questions arise over the motives of Matt’s family, who are all hiding secrets. The revelations, twists and tragedy that follow are all consuming and utterly convincing. And it’s not until the very last minute that we learn Grace’s fate.

Norman is so clever the way she elicits an emotional response to all her characters. I liked and sympathized with each and every one of them. I also loved her sneaky use of an independent narrator — family friend Jake — to give insight that would normally be colored by subjectivity. This “devil’s advocate” role worked superbly, and I would love to see it used more often by writers.

I can’t wait to read more from this talented author.

[Miz · Rating 4 out of 5]

YAH A NEW ZEALAND WRITER.

I'm a fan of Charity's easy contemporary fiction novels and this was no exception. Well written, good character development, and I was invested in the story enough that I wanted it to turn out one way. I'm not divulging how close to the actual storyline I 'guessed', but nevertheless if you're a fan of her other novels this will stand up to scrutiny.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 rounded up

Having recently read, and really enjoyed, Norman's "Remember Me" I decided to read some of her back catalogue. Not sure if I picked a dud but this one didn't do it for me, felt like an entirely different writer. And perhaps it was in some ways as this was her debut. The premise was fine, set around fertility and adoption, but the characters were really poorly drawn and the only thing I felt for most of them was dislike and contempt. There were so many unbelievable elements to the plot, a family welcoming into their home an almost complete stranger, using him, and taking him completely into their confidence. The social services and their actions. The "nice" couple who put up with so much crap but are rewarded on two counts the hardest of which to believe was the relationship with his family and last, but certainly not least, the agoraphobic who can still go out to shoot rabbits!

The two books I have now read by this author were chalk and cheese for me but as this was a debut, and the other offering more recent I will try one more of her novels as one can only imagine she has evolved and developed in her writing.

[Mags Schofield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charity Norman is my kind of writer. Much like Jodi Picoult and Diane Chamberlain, she takes an 'issue' and writes around it.
Freeing Grace covers the issue of adoption, telling the story of baby Grace from the perspective of her birth family and also her would - be adoptive family.
Both love Grace and want the best for her, but, as in real life, nothing is black and white.
The interactions between Charity's beautifully written characters becomes fascinating, and I defy any reader to be 100% sure who Grace should live with.
Once again, Charity has drawn me in to her plotline, making me feel that I know these people. On to After the Fall now.

[Liesbeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading and loving my first Charity Norman book, the Secrets of Strangers, I couldn’t wait to delve into another one.
Although this is a decent enough book, it didn’t draw me in unlike the Secrets.
The dilemma of adoption versus remaining with ( often dysfunctional) blood relatives is explored, alongside the story of Jack, who gets drawn into the whole affair.
The middle part is too drawn out in my opinion. I found myself speed reading quite a bit. Well written, decent enough storyline, albeit with few surprises along the way.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for an adoption story, this much is true...but I did really enjoy this book. It is predictable in places, yes...but I thought it was a good story - with plenty of characters you either really loved or wanted to punch in the face.

I'm grateful for the Easy Living review which is likely the only reason I would have ever come across this one.

It did have me sniffling more than once on the Tube...I won't say if they were happy tears or sad tears, obviously...but regardless, it was emotional.

Then again I can read or watch anything about adoption without crying...so I can't really be trusted, can I?

[Lorna Marchant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my third Charity Norman book and I’m glad it wasn’t my first, as I may not have been inclined to read beyond Freeing Grace. It took me a long time to ‘get into’ this story and I think this is largely down to the character of Jake and not finding his plot line believable to any extent. That said, I found the second half of the book far more engrossing and, overall, enjoyed Norman’s writing style.

[Fran Whiteman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great audio book. Highly recommend

[The Bookshop Umina]

London, 1990s.

In a hospital ward, Cherie, 16, black, gives birth to Grace Serenity. Shortly afterwards she flees the hospital and dies in a car crash.

David Edmunds, white, parish priest, and his black Nigerian wife, Leila, are finding that their childlessness causes more problems than their mixed marriage. Desperate to have a family, they undergo IVF without success. As the book opens, an adoption process is under way.

Jake Kelly, 40-year-old New Zealander, can’t commit to his relationship with Anna, who wants a child before she gets too old. She decides to end their relationship and asks Jake to move out. On the same day, Jake quits his job as an investment banker. A colleague, Lucy, clever, attractive, invites him to her parents’ home in the country for the weekend. Lucy’s young half-brother, Matt, is into loud music and drugs.

After the shocking opening, we become involved with two families – the Edmunds in their search for a child, and Lucy’s family, the Harrisons, who draw Jake into their convoluted life and the secrets they are hiding. Why has Lucy’s stepmother, Deborah, not returned from an assignment in Africa? Why is 16-year-old Matt so confused and desperate?

Adoption is the theme of this book. The slightly clunky title, Freeing Grace, is explained late in the story during the adoption hearing that forms the climax.

The main characters, with a strong supporting cast, are well drawn, credible and memorable. The story moves between the two families, following parallel paths, until finally they are brought together by baby Grace. The prose flows easily and we are always sure where we are and which thread we are following. Jake tells his story in the first person which further helps to keep the story on track.

The plot is interesting, with many surprises. We go with Jake to Africa, briefly, in strong contrast to the cool, misty weather of the English countryside. The story is moving, funny and absorbing. It’s up to date and relevant with its themes of childlessness, mixed marriage, prejudice, adoption, teenage pregnancy, drugs, alcohol and mental illness.

Thoroughly recommended as an engaging, entertaining read, with enough depth to make you care about the characters. This is Charity Norman’s first novel. I hope she writes more.



Jo Rudd 28/5/2011

[Liz Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

An early Charity Norman book which certainly did not live up to After The Fall or See you in September.
Two families , one baby named Grace Serenity who is in care and up for adoption. Who should be her parents?
That is the premise of the story and through various twists and turns Grace finally finds her family.
I found the story quite predictable, although to be fair I did not predict the ending. The characters were very one dimensional , delinquent young father, flamboyant and erratic grandmother, traumatised scheming grandfather etc and then a curate and his lively wife.
I think Charity Norman fans will enjoy this book and to an extent I did too. It was a very easy read whilst waiting for my next book to arrive at the library. 😂
However I think I will wait for her next book rather than reading anymore from the past.

[Sally Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this at a charity shop whilst looking for one of her other titles. Easy read, as an adoptee, it resonated with me; birth family not really credible but the potential adoptees were, their lack of 'voice' and aura of 'feeling not really being good enough' felt familiar, however the expression of disapproval by some family members was gladly nothing I could identify with. In my opinion a rightful ending if implausible.

[Victoria Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so full of emotion, I loved it. There was a pretty stressful moral dilemma in this; give the baby to the birth family that doesn't really want it, or to adoptive parents that do? Can you really just take a baby away from it's family? By swapping between the perspectives of both sides, you really get to fall in love with everyone, and that makes the decision so much harder. Sometimes, I felt no doubt in who I wanted to get this baby, then I'd swap a few chapters later. What I do wish is that there was a little bit more of those sad scenes; I didn't cry once, and I fully expected to.

TBC

[Bronwyn Rykiert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about a baby Grace, born to a single mother who is in care and who does not want the baby. Grace's 17 year old father would like to keep her but he is deemed unable to do so. This is a story of 2 families who both want Grace for different reasons.

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this author and this book had a few twists and turns that kept me reading late at night and some of her characters needed a good shake but you felt sympathy with most of them even if only for a moment

[Rosemary Noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charity Norman is now one of my favourite authors for consistently good reads. She understands families in turmoil, child protection and the trauma that goes with that. Her characters are multi-dimensional and the plots well constructed.

[Angela Torr · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first Charity Norman novel. Now I want to read all her others!

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this author. The depth of each character makes me very emotionally involved. I also never know which way its going to go.

[Viv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly moving. Stunning story.

[Liv H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic read from Charity Norman. It's sad, beautiful, and has exceptionally charming characters. A real tug-at-the-heart-strings story that leaves you wanting the best for all but you know someone will lose out in the end.

[erebus K Rushworth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yet another book for which I am not the target audience; this tells the story of a teen pregnancy that ends with a tragic death, and a baby caught in custody proceedings.

CW: emotional abuse, gun violence, car crash, animal cruelty, suicidal ideation

It's not my favourite flavour of entertainment to have a story told from the point of view of entitled Capitalists. The main characters are people of means who spend time planning expensive trips and things. One of the protagonists is a supposedly "charming" Kiwi bloke but his unassuming approachability just comes off as lazy and entitled rubbish wrapped in a casing of emotionally repressed masculine posturing.. then again he was a banker.

I was very put off by the pervasive air of casual Sexism, Racism and Ableism peppered through the whole book. I nearly stopped reading a third of the way into it, because every single character seemed to get Rated when they were described (because it's not enough to say that someone was tall - for some reason you need to hear in detail, whether or not their assets were attractive enough or their smile made them seem beddable) and that both the male and female characters had the habit of slut-shaming, describing forthright women as "stroppy", and using unkind names for women likening them to dogs and pigs. The way that mental health and anxiety were dealt with was not fun for me at all. It was all heavily stigmatised, and there was a lot of victim blaming. The only mention of homosexuality was a woman challenging her own homophobia as she tried to figure out her feelings about her husband leaving her for another man.

Written in 2011 I was struck by how old fashioned this story felt. The idea of a phone hanging on the wall and ringing at inopportune times placed this story firmly in the past, for me.

By far, the most likeable characters in the story were the prospective adoptive parents, and I nearly stopped reading again halfway through the book because the tension in it just made the whole situation seem unwinnable. It was a heck of a mess and I felt like an easy resolution would be possible if only people actually talked to each other. I felt like most of the conflict in the entire story was caused by people not communicating or trusting those around them. That sort of things is a huge chore for me to read through.

For all its disaster, I almost liked the last quarter of the book, but it was hardly a payoff or my investment. This was yet another example of my compulsive and masochistic desire to complete things that I start... somebody save me from myself.

[Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute gem!
Characters so vivid! They are flawed. They are perfect! They are exceptional! They are broken. Oh my!! How they come to life and draw you in. Real people!!

Reading a Charity Norman novel is like a warm hug. Oh there is angst too but there is compassion … lots of it!

Do yourselves a favour. Read a Charity Norman book. You will be so glad you did!

All the feels for this beautiful story! Pass the tissues.

#CharityNorman

[Caraline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to win a copy of this book from the publisher Allen & Unwin in a Facebook competition.

This is possibly one of my all time favourite books. I loved it.

At first I was unsure how the initial characters would fit together, but it soon became obvious. The books I enjoy most make me want to BE the women (or parts of them), or be best friends with them, or be adopted by them, and they make me want to marry the men, or be adopted by them, or adopt them. You get the picture. I felt very close to all the characters.

Even the characters who had such huge flaws were still likeable, perhaps because of their flaws?! I felt invested in each person, even Hilda, the hideous mother-in-law, and her awful spouse Christopher. I know Monica and Nicky, even though they are minor characters, but Charity Norman writes so well, even Dora in the shop was 'visible' to me!

I am personally fortunate not to have been in Leila's position, to yearn for a child that I can never have. I didn't have a teenage pregnancy, nor did I marry a widower. I'm not a Kiwi bloke who can't settle down. But through this novel I felt a lot of the characters emotions. It has helped me see things with a wider world view.

I usually root for someone in this kind of book. With Jodi Picoult novels, it's apparent whose side you are on, for example. But this book just made me want to read on, to find out what happened, to find out how it would happen. Of course, it was so good, I was also trying to ration it, because I knew I would be bereft when I had read it all, and I would have to say goodbye to them all!

I cannot recommend this highly enough. I found Charity Norman by accident on Amazon and I read Second Chances (After the fall) which I loved. Next I read her latest novel The Secret Life of Luke Livingstone (also wonderful) and I have The Son-in-law waiting. I daren't read it because then I will have nothing left to anticipate. That is how good her books are. Read Freeing Grace today.Freeing Grace

[Our Library Mornington]

Freeing Grace is a great read from a new author which captured my attention from start to finish. A baby, Grace, is at the centre of the drama where two families are in a struggle around her adoption. I enjoyed following their plight as each chapter switched between the two parallel families. After years of waiting, the childless couple made up of David, a curate, and his wife, are desperate to adopt Grace. Yet the teenage father, Matt Harrison, is not ready to let her go. Jake, a family friend of the Harrisons, becomes unwittingly drawn into the dark family secrets.

Freeing Grace is a tale of hope, sadness and joy as the issues of teenage parenthood, mixed race marriages, adoption and religion are pondered when the two families strive to do what is best for Grace. Fans of Monica McInerney and Joanna Trollope will enjoy this compelling novel. The author, Charity Norman, is a barrister who was born in Uganda, lived in the UK and now lives in New Zealand.

[Marg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rather touching story though at time a little predictable. There are however several twists throughout and it is well written. Grace is the daughter of a young boy and his girlfriend who is suddenly killed soon after the birth. David's family decide to keep the baby but must show themselves as worthy to the authorities. A desperate, childless couple - a curate and his Nigerian born wife - will do almost anything to adopt the baby and must go through lots of ups and down along the way. A good read that brings tears to the eyes on more than one occasion throughout the story.

[Bec · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel in love with Norman when I first read See You In September many years ago, since then I have been slowly working my way through her backlist and thoroughly enjoying it.

Finding Grace is a beautifully moving novel about love, belonging and the meaning of family. I devoured it in a day, sprinting to the end to find out what happened to Grace. The duel timelines were woven together beautifully and the ending had my eyes fighting tears back.

David works in a curate inner-city parish and lives with Leila his Nigerian born wife. Unable to have children of their own, they’re desperate to start a family. When they finally receive the news they’ve been approved to adopt a baby, Grace, they can hardly believe their luck.

But there’s one challenge they couldn’t have anticipated, Grace’s birth family, the enigmatic and charismatic Harrisons. Calling on their friend, Jake Kelly, a charming and somewhat unreliable New Zealander who’s half in love with all of them in different ways, the Harrisons set events in motion that lead to a confronting and unexpected reckoning.

Everyone wants what’s best for Grace but who gets to decide what that really means?

[Leanne Webster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished this.

One baby girl and two families fiercely fighting for her.

As usual Charity Norman ensures you love both the birth family and the potential adopting family.
Both families deserve the child and your heart breaks for the couple that cannot have children. They have had many miscarriages and IVF has proven fruitless. After a four year wait to adopt they finally got the call to say a baby was available. Unfortunately a member of the birth family has just turned up to claim the baby.

After becoming super attached to both families it’s hard to say who deserves the lovely baby Grace. A desperate couple who will devote every cent and second to this baby girl, or her own flesh and blood who know her family history, her story and can ensure she will always knows where she came from.

A story with lots of extras to the main plot and with relatable and loveable characters.

Only one more Charity Norman book to go! Hope she has something ready for print soon!!

[Alva · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many important issues are raised in this book, through a cluster of well-developed characters. Teenage pregnancy, mixed-race marriage, fatherhood in all its forms, family relationships, religion, mental illness are all intelligently explored in this wonderful story about Grace, an innocent, thrust into a world about which she yet knows nothing. Her life, off to a shaky start, is about to be decided by a group of people we hope have only her best interests at heart. In Jake, we learn a lot about human nature, and his thrust-upon friendship with the dysfunctional Harrison family. We learn about taking leaps of faith, and we learn about running away, running back. Charity Norman writes a splendid tale.

[Amy Heap · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always have to have an audiobook on the go, and I don't pay for them, so I listen to what is available through my library at the time I need a new book. That's a long way of saying that the audiobooks I listen to are not necessarily books from my TBR. I recognised the author's name from a new release from New Zealand, last year, and gave it a go. Set in the UK and Africa, though with one character from New Zealand, I found it to be an engaging, often relatable, and moving look at complex life and family situations; mental health, infertility, teenage pregnancy, domestic abuse. I found it a touch dated and at times some characters seemed a little over the top, but I would definitely read her more recent novels.

[Rosalie Charbonneau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Je donnerais un 2/5 à cette lecture. En fait, j’ai adoré les thèmes abordés dans ce roman (adoption, famille dysfonctionnelle, anxiété sociale, etc). Je crois cependant que la lecture aurait pu être plus dirigés vers ça et surtout ce qui a ralenti ma lecture est les longueurs. J’ai trouvé personnellement, qu’il y avait trop de détails, qui n’était pas nécessairement pertinent. Des détails sur tout. Pour ce qui est de la plume de l’autrice, j’ai trouvé que c’était correct - facile à comprendre et à bien visualiser l’histoire. J’aurais toutefois augmenté ma note, si elle aurait fini l’histoire par élaboré sur le futur de Grace. Finalement, j’ai trouvé que c’était une histoire touchante, et intéressante. Où le rythme peut être ralenti par la façon de la composition du livre.