The Only Child
Kayte Nunn
Reviewed by Helen
Another brilliant story from Kayte Nunn, a heartbreaking tale of young girls around the 1940’a and 1950’, unwed girls who have to make heartbreaking decisions, mystery surrounds the home for unwed mothers on Orcades Island in the Pacific Northwest of the coast of America, will the new owners uncover the mystery?
1949 and a sixteen year old unwed girl is sent to the catholic run home Fairmile on Orcades Island, here she is give a new name and kept with the other girls till their babies are born, this is the coldest winter there has been but by the end of winter she is gone and what of the other girls?
2013 and Frankie Gray has moved to the island to help her mother Diana restore an old homestead to be known as the Fairmile Inn, Frankie has arrived with her fifteen year old daughter Izzy and with her grandmother in the nursing home on the island there are four generations of the family there, When a nun is found dead at the nursing home and a small skull is recovered while restoring the old home, there are more questions that need to be answered and Frankie is determined to find them but will it hurt her family in doing so?
I loved this story from start to finish compelling and gripping reading as the author digs deep into the history and shame that unwed mothers caused back then and the cruelty that was cast upon them in these homes. These young girls although told not to make friends did and never knew what happened to each other, the pain they must have felt was terrible. I cried for them all, the babies the girls.
This is a must read story that truly I found hard to put down and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a fabulous historical mystery, Kayte Nunn is a favourite author of mine and I do hope you pick this one up.
My thanks to Hachette AU for my copy to read and review.
1949 and a sixteen year old unwed girl is sent to the catholic run home Fairmile on Orcades Island, here she is give a new name and kept with the other girls till their babies are born, this is the coldest winter there has been but by the end of winter she is gone and what of the other girls?
2013 and Frankie Gray has moved to the island to help her mother Diana restore an old homestead to be known as the Fairmile Inn, Frankie has arrived with her fifteen year old daughter Izzy and with her grandmother in the nursing home on the island there are four generations of the family there, When a nun is found dead at the nursing home and a small skull is recovered while restoring the old home, there are more questions that need to be answered and Frankie is determined to find them but will it hurt her family in doing so?
I loved this story from start to finish compelling and gripping reading as the author digs deep into the history and shame that unwed mothers caused back then and the cruelty that was cast upon them in these homes. These young girls although told not to make friends did and never knew what happened to each other, the pain they must have felt was terrible. I cried for them all, the babies the girls.
This is a must read story that truly I found hard to put down and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a fabulous historical mystery, Kayte Nunn is a favourite author of mine and I do hope you pick this one up.
My thanks to Hachette AU for my copy to read and review.
5 stars
August 31, 2022 by Hachette Australia
