Play Book Tag discussion

Love Forms is a quietly powerful novel that explores motherhood, loss and the unshakeable pull of the past. Set between 1980s Trinidad and present-day London, it follows Dawn Bishop, who as a teenager is sent away to give birth in secret after becoming pregnant. Decades later, now divorced and nearing sixty, Dawn finds herself haunted by the decision that shaped her life — and by the daughter she never knew.

Claire Adam writes with striking restraint and empathy, allowing the story to unfold through moments of silence and reflection rather than overt drama. The shifts between past and present are handled with great sensitivity, giving the reader a clear sense of how the weight of one choice can echo through an entire lifetime. The prose is understated but beautiful, especially in its evocation of place — the heat and colour of Trinidad contrasted with the quieter melancholy of London life.

Dawn is an absorbing and believable protagonist: flawed, proud, and burdened by guilt, yet still seeking a kind of peace. Some of the secondary characters are less fully developed, and at times the pacing feels almost too measured, but these are small quibbles in a novel that thrives on emotional honesty rather than plot twists.