The American Girl by Rachael English

I absolutely loved reading this book and found that it was a bit of a page turner.  Admittedly I do have an interest in the Magdalene Laundries after watching the movie The Magdalene Sisters and then latterly Philomena and discovering that the Catholic school I attended as a small girl was run by one of the orders involved.

Despite what could be a very dour topic - forced adoption, there is a lightness of touch and humour in this book and an attempt at showing the laundries for what they were whilst glossing over the main atrocities.  The bulk of the novel is set in the modern day cities of Dublin and Boston and Carrigbrack is mentioned only briefly but it looms large over the rest of the tale.

Martha Sheeran has always known she was adopted, her parents have been open about that much at least.  However, it seems there is an unwarranted amount of secrecy surrounding the adoption and as her daughter reaches the outer reaches of childhood and with her marriage broken down she decides to look for her birth parents.  We experience the highs and lows of the search and the impact it has on her friendships and family relationships when Martha unearths more than she expected.

The pace of the tale is gentle and we experience everything through the voices of Martha and her birth mother Rose.  Things that were considered dead and buried come to light thanks to the efforts of both of their respective children once the truth starts to become known will either of their lives ever be the same again?

The sense of time and place, particularly in the late 1960s, is exquisitely realised and I did feel completely drawn in to this rather peculiar world of moral standards and appearance being all.  The characterisations are well drawn and the people inhabiting the book soon begin to feel real to the reader and you find yourself wishing he best for them whilst shaking your head at some of their decisions.

Definitely an author I will be reading more from!