Because of You

by Dawn French

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock . . . midnight.

The old millennium turns into the new.

In the same hospital, two very different women give birth to two very similar daughters.

Hope leaves with a beautiful baby girl.

Anna leaves with empty arms.

Seventeen years later, the gods who keep watch over broken-hearted mothers wreak mighty revenge, and the truth starts rolling, terrible and deep, toward them all.

The power of mother-love will be tested to its limits.

Perhaps beyond . . .

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Audiobook, Book Club, Chick Lit, Family, Literary Fiction

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 15, 2020

About the author

Dawn Roma French is a British actress, writer and comedian. In her career spanning three decades, she has been nominated for six BAFTA Awards and also won a Fellowship BAFTA along with her best friend Jennifer Saunders. She is best-known for starring in and writing her comedy sketch show, French and Saunders, alongside her comedy partner Jennifer Saunders, and for playing the lead role of Geraldine Granger in the sitcom The Vicar of Dibley.

Reviews

[Paromjit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dawn French's novel is a complete tearjerker, exploring the nature of mother-daughter relationships and family, the sacrifices a mother will make, the heartache, the grief and the loss, set in London and Bristol. Two mothers are in the maternity unit of a hospital giving birth to their daughters, one of whom is stillborn. Hope Parker, from a Jamaican background, leaves the hospital with Minnie, a daughter that she could not love more, she is everything, whilst her beloved partner, Quiet Isaac, the father, returns to Africa. Hope makes the decision to return to Bristol where her family live, her parents love her but Zak, her dad, is a heroin addict, and to cope with this, her mother took to the demon drink. Her sister has helped to look after and protect them while Hope was in London, while there is a bigger family circle that take Minnie to their heart, with everyone surrounding her with a vibrant, unconditional, unabashed love as Minnie grows up secure, knowing she is wanted.

Anna Lindon-Clarke, the other mother at the hospital, is left a broken woman, she can't forget her daughter, Florence, so desperately wanted, particularly as her husband, the black Tory MP, Julius, a serial philanderer, has proved to be such a utter disappointment. French has really gone to town with his character, a truly obnoxious man, narcissistic, vain, amoral and utterly selfish, whose world revolves entirely around him, no-one else gets a look in. He is power hungry, so ambitious that he will use anyone and anything to further his career including Anna, and Florence, but is so intolerable, with his unbearable, peacock attention seeking personality, that even the Tories are wary. Hope and Minnie, a happy, bright and joyful girl, have an unbreakable bond, with their own secret codes and Wawa. At 17 years of age, Minnie is pregnant, in a strong relationship with Lee, when her world falls apart, leaving her flailing, wondering who she is and who she can trust.

French's writing and storytelling is utterly compelling, it is full of heart, warmth and the kind of heartbreak and sorrow that left me feeling bereft and tearful. She explores the mother-daughter relationship with expert skill, the sacrifices made, and her characterisations of the towering Hope, Minnie and Anna had me totally invested in them, not to mention Quiet Isaac with his love and yearly letters. This is a fabulously entertaining and immersive read, of family, love, loss, grief, forgiveness and such courage and bravery that it left me breathless. Dawn French really is a national treasure. Many thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.

[jean · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm finding it difficult to review this novel as I'm not sure I read the same book as other people, I certainly didn't find it life affirming, warm or witty as the reviews suggest. Instead I found it quite odd, yet some characters, such as a narcissistic male depressingly familiar from many other stories. Stillbirth and stolen babies distressing and the ending disturbing and depressing seemingly to provide a neat conclusion
Thank you to netgalley and penguin books for an advance copy of this book

[Indieflower · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been a fan of Dawn French for what feels like forever, and I loved her autobiography, Dear Fatty - her novels however, are a very different kettle of fish. This one, though readable, I really didn't like at all, mawkish and saccharine sweet, it was written in a light and fluffy way which jarred with the subject matter, I found it silly, full of plot holes and it felt like it wasn't researched at all. Not sure a woman who had suffered placental abruption and very heavy bleeding during labour would be allowed home a mere couple of hours later, and I believe blood type matches are required for organ transplants. And where's poor little stillborn Minnie, still in the hospital morgue awaiting a funeral? These are just a few of the instances that had me scratching my head and there are many more. The humour fell flat for me and the characters and their behaviour didn't feel real, no depth at all, they just bounced from one random thing to another, with a bit of light heroin addiction and alcoholism thrown in for good measure. I also can't fathom how an ending could be both shocking and totally ludicrous at the same time. I've been quite harsh but I'm annoyed I wasted time on this, I should've dnf'd but I was weirdly compelled to read on, I wanted to know how it would end, hence the 2 stars. Sorry Dawn, I still love you, I just can't be doing with your fiction.

[Gavin Harry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cringe full writing and awful plot

I forced myself to finish this because I liked her other books so much. The plot was full of holes, and the way the teenagers spoke in it made me cringe, stereotypes for days. But above all, the idea that you could ever forgive someone for stealing your baby and causing you pain and worry every day for 18 years is just unbelievable and in my opinion, offensive. I found the character Hope completely unforgivable and virtually unreadable for that reason. I was just left with a bad feeling and a need to quickly read a well written book.

[ReadAlongWithSue recovering from a stroke★⋆. ࿐࿔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was set between London and Bristol
Bristol being my home town.

The subject matter itself is very emotional especially at the end.

I listened to this on audio with Dawn French reading it and was very enjoyable in the fact she could express how she wanted the story and words to come over to its reader.

It examines relationships between mothers and children, between husbands and wives and fathers and children.

The extremes a parent or parents might go through not just emotionally, for they’re child.

An exceptional book I enjoyed.

[Beth Sandland (Beth’s Book Club) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book should come with a massive trigger warning: stillbirth, baby loss, abduction.

I bought the audiobook expecting usual Dawn French humour and general loneliness, so was shocked to find myself listening to a ‘live’ depiction of a still birth in the first few chapters. Whilst well enough written, I found it incredibly insensitive that there’s absolutely no reference to this in any of the blurb, copy or reviews.

What follows I’m just...not sure about. Fundamentally I found the plot uncomfortable and whilst it’s not a bad book, I’m not sure why it’s being so highly praised. The humour is slapstick which is a real shame, with caricatures like a ridiculous DI (who wouldn’t have earned that rank had he been as stupid as the prose suggested) and a stereotypically self-absorbed politician.

There are much, much better books...

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book due to its surprise (to me) longlisting for the 2021 Women’s Prize – an explicit sign from the judges (the chair of whom blurbs the front cover of the book) that they were looking for a range of books from literary to storytellers.

It is by the UK comedienne (and now something of a national treasure) Dawn French. With her first being involved with the Comic Strip when I was about 14 (and just discovering alternative comedy), I feel like I grew up with her comedy through Girls on Top and BBC2 French and Saunders (before they moved to BBC1 and a big budget and got a little too self-indulgent), but before her move rather to the safety of the mainstream with The Vicar of Dibley.

I previously read the author’s “A Little Bit Marvelous” and commented that it was an “inoffensive read and the last chapter goes some way to redeeming the stereotyped characters, unlikely central drama and all’s well that ends well (as well as slightly unlikely) resolution” – and a lot of that could apply to this novel also.

This is one of the books where it is better not to read the back cover blurb (as its makes the first 50 or so pages lose some of their impact)– which I will instead rewrite (with less of a spoiler) as:

The old millennium turns into the new. In the same hospital, two very different women: Hope (head of the cleaners at the hospital, currently living with Liberian student Isaac) and Anna (married to an ambitious and self-absorbed black Conservative MP Julius) give birth to two very similar daughter, but tragically after a stillbirth only one of them has a baby girl to take home. We then see how this plays out and how their lives come back together, 17 years later, when the girl herself falls pregnant.

And as well as being at the storytelling rather than literary end of the Women’s Prize spectrum, this novel (and I think all of the author’s novel writing) fits much more into the Vicar of Dibley than the Girls on Top end of her comedy. A couple of the characters in this book in particular (Julius and even more so a police officer playing a side role) seem lifted straight from a sit-com – the first simply lacking any depth in his pantomime villainess and the other with a rather unbelievable line in metaphor malapropisms. And the plot, with its twists and turns, has the lack of coherence and credibility of a sit-com also (which sits uneasily with its serious subject matter).

But the book does have an emotional – if rather unlikely – ending an overall it’s a very big hearted story - and to be honest it’s nice to have a break from books that think seem to think literary means also having to be one or more of misanthropic/transgressive/deeply pessimistic/explicit/scatological.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Dawn French. I enjoy her shows and her memoir. However, as a Fiction Author, I struggle.

There were too many plot holes in this for me to really enjoy it. The timeline didn't make sense. The crime was too glossed over to ever feel real, and the conclusion was eye rolling.

I also have an issue with people crying 'soft tears', what does this even mean?

I'm not sure if this was meant to come across as humorous or maybe its satire, French is a comedian as all, but either way, it didn't work for me.

Two stars, it will probably be memorable but for the wrong reasons.

[Stace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Reviewed on www.whisperingstories.com

On the 1st January 2000 two women, Hope and Anna, give birth to baby girls just a few delivery suites away. Both women have had long, drawn-out labours. One is there with her supportive partner whilst the other is with her husband who is a complete jerk.

Unfortunately, Hope’s baby is stillborn whilst Anna has a beautiful baby girl she calls Florence. A few hours later as Hope is heading home she goes past Anna’s room where both she and her partner are asleep and she sneaks a peek at the baby. Little Florence lifts her hand to Hope and at that moment she loses all sense of what is right and wrong and puts the baby in her night bag and carries her out to the car where her other half is waiting.

Florence isn’t noticed as missing for some time with her parents asleep and the midwives leaving them to rest. When the news breaks the hospital presume Hope left way before Florence was taken and she isn’t a suspect.

For eighteen years Hope kept the secret from everyone, not telling anyone her real daughter was stillborn and the daughter she has now, Minnie, isn’t really hers. But as time goes on Hope realises what she did was wrong and she needs to come clean, but what will happen to her perfect family once the world finds out?

Because of You is a glorious, beautiful book. I knew what Hope had done was so wrong and on many levels evil, but I also couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. Grief is a strange and difficult emotion to control and I can understand the want to hold a baby and love a child like the one she had lost. At the same time, she causes so much grief to the other family by taking their daughter.

I think feeling sorry for Hope also came from knowing that Florence’s dad was a self-loving idiot who would have ruined his daughter’s life, just like he did his wife. I like the way that Dawn French kind of made him out to be the baddy in the book, and that he was an MP too.

The book is emotional. It isn’t a funny book, it is heartfelt and tackles lots of subjects, including regret and forgiveness. It also makes you think. We follow Minnie’s life from the day of her birth and are with her for each birthday. I did wonder how Hope managed to conceal her daughter from the authorities for so long, yes she moved area’s but even if she didn’t have to take her to the doctors, what about school?

I can’t remember the last book of this size that I sat and read so quickly. It certainly is a page-turner. I was moved by the storyline and the plight of these three females.

[Christine Holyoake · Rating 2 out of 5]

Celebreality Chicklit
I have read all the 5 stars review and it left me wondering if we have read the wrong book.
Obviously without giving the story line away, the premis of the book is the switched baby scenario. The writing in pleasant and engaging and it did hold my attention. However her narrative has more holes than my Granny's crochet blanket. She will have you believe that a baby is taken from a hospital, and the crime is being investigated by a lone detective sergeant and a couple of detective constables. Her treatment of the police is woeful and fuels prejudices that are quite unbecoming by authors of her caliber. I think she has relied solely on her fertile imagination in favor of any kind of research into police procedures' , or still birth hospital procedures.
All characters in this book fit neatly into a box, they are either nice, funny, dim or nasty. There is an absence of any complexity , ensuring that the reader is not unnecessarily taxed by thinking. This is a good job, otherwise they may ask questions such as what happened to the dead baby which is presumably still unclaimed in the hospital at this point !
The more the story unfolds, the more sillier it gets. That is silly as in unrealistic, not silly as in funny.
The ending requests you to suspend believe to the point that you could also read the Graffalo and believe that the mouse is real.
After all the story is nice enough escapism which may while away a few hours in lock down. Its well enough written and its warm and comforting like dunking your biscuits in a cup of tea. It is as pleasant as binge watching a box set of little house on the prairie.
If this story wasn't written by a major celebrity, it would be found in a copy of a women's' own magazine rather than languishing in the top ten best seller lists.

[Sinead · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hadn't read anything by Dawn French before so I had an open mind and was hopeful as I have enjoyed books by other comediennes turned authors. Sadly, this was not to be. This book wasn't comfortable reading from the start. Two highly sensitive and emotive topics, stillbirth and child abduction, just didn't sit right alongside slapstick humour and idiotic characters such as Julien and the male police detective. As a Mum, I felt upset at how these issues were somewhat trivialized. One moment you were empathising with a woman going through every new mother's nightmare, the next you were supposed to engage with banter between a dim policeman and a vile politician. I felt there were flaws in the characterisation and plot too. If Hope was such a good person, how did she keep the baby after her hormones settled, without eventually feeling guilt for the natural mother? How was the sound of Bob Marley a reminder to Minnie of her Grandad when he died when she was a baby? How did Minnie get so attached to Issac on the basis of a one way letter communication, read in one sitting? Did the authorities never pick up that the first baby's body wasn't claimed from the mortuary when another, born the same day, in the same hospital, was abducted? How could Anna have just forgiven Hope after missing out on her daughter's entire childhood? How on earth did Minnie get to 17 without needing or seeing her birth cert? Just some of the niggles that I could have forgiven if the story was based around something as daft as the plot, but it wasn't. It was based on stillbirth, baby abduction and finally, suicide. The story ends by Minnie having to cope with Hope taking her own life, while recovering from a heart transplant. How could Hope put Minnie through that, after all she had already been through? Hope, to me, was damaged and unstable, and not the caring, nurturing mother that I think the author intended. Not for me.

[Nigella · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m fascinated and bemused by this book’s high rating. I love DF and expected, based on the many interviews she’s given about this book, to find some complexity and depth of emotion within the characters and the story. In her interviews she said she explored themes of nature/nurture and loss. Nature/nurture didn’t get a look in, thematically, and loss was given only lip service. The father was a ludicrous and cruel parody of a man; the real mother’s experience simply skimmed over (and I found her a one dimensional, unrealistic, wholesome paragon of forgiveness and compassion). It felt like superficial chick-lit. Oh and I didn’t laugh once. Where was the humour? (Apart from some oddly inappropriate word play from the poorly drawn male police officer). I listened to this on audiobook, while reading (on kindle) both Hamnet and Where the Crawdads Sing both of which knocked the DF into a cocked hat; there is simply no comparison. I mention this by way of ameliorating my negativity, perhaps had I read the DF in isolation I would have enjoyed it more. Actually, no.

[Linette · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this as it was given to me as a gift. Instead I found myself skim-reading. Dawn French has tried to do a Jodi Picoult and failed. I found this book depressing from the word go. The premise is an interesting one but we spend far too much time inside the heads of the characters and this really means that the story was actually thin.

I try not to be so negative about books but really feel that this was only published because it was by Dawn French.

[Kavitha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Longlisted for Women's Prize for Fiction 2021.

This is the 1st book from the WP Longlist that I didn't like at all. In fact, I am even wondering if I read the same book 🤔

*Warning: Stillbirth and a stolen newborn are mentioned in this review as they are brought up in this book.*

Two mothers - Hope & Anna - give birth to their daughters in the same hospital, around the same time, with just a few Hospital rooms in between. Hope is married to Julian, a Black man with political ambitions and a narcissist. Hope is in a relationship with Isaac, also a Black man but a more compassionate one. Hope and Isaac are in a loving relationship with great future prospects. Anna & Julian are in a marriage that is falling apart because Julian cannot really love anyone else except himself. Anna hopes that the baby will help keep their marriage intact. Hope gives birth to a stillborn. Anna gives birth to a healthy baby girl. Hope steals the baby. We meet the stolen baby - Minnie - 18 years later when she is pregnant with her own child. The story goes back and forth between past and present from here on and ends in a dramatic manner ultimately.

Dawn French said in her interview that she wanted to explore the themes of nature vs nurture and loss. Honestly, the very thought of hinging the exploration of nature vs nurture on a stolen baby and a stillbirth makes me uncomfortable as a parent. The exploration of loss felt no more than a lip service as it seemed like the author wanted to generate warm feelings for Hope in the readers' minds, so she conveniently chose to sideline the grief of Anna. Maybe it's me, but I fail to see why there should even be an expectation of warm feelings here for someone who committed the unimaginable crime of stealing a newborn, no matter what circumstances drove her to do it or how much effort she put into raising that baby. As a parent, this not only felt disturbing to me but it also felt offensive.

All the characters felt one dimensional to me, especially the male characters. Julian is portrayed as a narcissistic man, so we never get to experience his grief over the loss of his baby. Isaac leaves Hope with the stolen newborn and runs away to Africa only to return several years later. So, we never get to experience any of his moral dilemmas. Hope barely experiences any moral dilemma of her own. In fact, she tries to justify her crime by claiming that she fell in love with the newborn right away and that she was hers from the beginning. Anna's grief is totally downplayed to let Hope shine. The few pages that Anna got in the book, she was projected as a compassionate & gentle soul, a paragon for love & forgiveness. Bottom line here is, the author stripped the story of all complexity by manipulating her characters in a way that fit her agenda.

There are way too many holes in the plot. How could someone commit a crime of this sort and get away with it so easily with an ongoing police investigation (the police inspector was another one dimensional character) is beyond me. Whatever happened to the stillborn baby that Hope & Isaac left at the hospital? .

This was not a heartwarming story for me as it is being advertised. It was upsetting. It felt so wrong! The biggest irony here is, I don't think I would've read it at all if it wasn't longlisted for the Women's Prize.

[Patrycja Krotowska · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jak często zdarza Wam się czytać książki, które hmm delikatnie mówiąc zdają się obrażać Waszą inteligencję? Które są tak niepoważne, absurdalne, bezrozumne, że przewracanie oczami to za mało? Bo ja właśnie taką książkę przeczytałam i zupełnie nie wiem, dlaczego to sobie zrobiłam.

"Because of You" to kolejna książka, która znalazła się na długiej liście nominowanych do nagrody Women's Prize for Fiction 2021. Opis zaproponował mi: "In the same hospital, two very different women give birth to two very similar daughters." Temat macierzyństwa w literaturze jest mi bardzo bliski, więc zaczęłam. I na samym początku otrzymałam bardzo melodramatyczny, egzaltowany, teatralny opis dwóch porodów. I nie byłoby w tym nic rażącego, gdyby nie fakt, że jeden poród zakończył się śmiercią dziecka. W książce, która miała być "funny and witty". Opis porodu martwego dziecka nie jest zabawny. I nawet nie o sam temat chodzi, ale o sposób, w jaki został potraktowany. Płytko, rozrywkowo. I powinien być objęty trigger warning.

Co dalej (uwaga, zdradzam linię fabularną). Kobieta, której dziecko zmarło przy porodzie kradnie ze szpitala dziecko tej drugiej kobiety i z nim wychodzi ze szpitala. W torbie. Z dzieckiem, które przez całą drogę do domu się nie odzywa - na znak, że chce być z tą kobietą, no przecież. I tak żyją sobie szczęśliwie. 18 lat. Jako mama i córka. Książka ma pokazywać inne oblicze więzi macierzyńskiej (wg jurorek WPF). Czyli - hej, można ukraść dziecko i być dla niego super mamą bez więzów krwi! Juhuu!

Książka kończy się w jeszcze bardziej niedorzeczny sposób. Dawno nie czytałam czegoś tak nieautentycznego, a przy tym krzywdzącego. Jestem bardzo zniesmaczona zarówno linią fabularną, jak i wieloma scenkami pomiędzy. Gdy np. jeden bohater zostaje nakryty na zdradzie tłumaczy się, że przecież jego trenerka (mhm) miała ubrane BIAŁE OBCISŁE SPODNIE. Wszystko jasne?

Miłość macierzyńska ma różne oblicza. Ale nie można z tak niemoralnego zdarzenia robić tła dla słodkiej opowieści o córce, która staje się podobna do swojej (nie)matki, o wspaniałej relacji, bez żadnych konsekwencji, bez analizy psychologicznej, w tak płytki i krzywdzący sposób, dla samej rozrywki - no, przepraszam, no nie.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review is of the audio book version, as well as the story. I’m rather an audio book novice – I have this terrible habit of falling asleep whilst listening to books – its not boredom – especially not in this case, but rather a voice in my ear soothing me to sleep!

I had seen so many good reviews of this, I couldn’t pass this by, especially as it was narrated by Dawn French. I’ll get on to the book in a moment, but just a quick word about her narration. It was excellent and made the book for me. She did accents and inflections so well, it was so easy to tell which character she was voicing and she even managed to convey the frustration and eye rolling of some characters!

The story begins on New Years Eve, on the cusp of a new millennium. Mothers-to-be Hope and Anna are in a London hospital giving birth however only one of them will leave with a baby.

Both women are very different. Hope is 20 years old and a cleaner, however she is ambitious and has plans. Her boyfriend Quiet Isaac, is from Sierra Leone and an engineering student. with strong family values. Their baby was unexpected but nevertheless, much wanted.

35 year old Anna is a quiet and resolute person, unhappily married to Julius, an MP and a more obnoxious man you could not meet. An adulturer, pompous and narcissistic. The only person he loves is himself. She really wants this baby to have someone to love.

The story switches back and forth from the aftermath of that night to the next 18 years and we see how lives implode from a decision that has devastating consequences.

Oh my goodness. This was such an emotional read with a difficult subject at its heart but amongst the emotional turmoil there is humour too. Dawn French handles the story with warmth and somehow even though a wrong has been done, the leading female characters feel so credible that you really care about them. In fact they all have vivid personalities, including the minor characters. There are those like DI Thripshaw that provide the comedic and toe curling moments with his malapropisms and crassness whilst his colleague DC Debbie Cheese provides the empathy.

Because of You is a story of a mother’s love, loss and sacrifice and shows how those bonds between a mother and child can never really be lost. I have to admit to being rather wet-eyed by the end. You may well need tissues. There might be some aspects that seem rather far-fetched but for me there could have been no other other way for the story to go.

I really enjoyed listening to the audio version and definitely recommend this audio book – I do also now have a hardback copy which I will read as I’m sure there were some parts of the audio that I missed – my fault for late night listening!

[Lynne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I heard Dawn French being interviewed about this book, and she was articulate, interesting and engaging. Unlike the book so. The glib telling of a story of a still-birth, followed by the abduction of a baby. Hope kidnaps Anna's newborn baby; and the story continues, telling how Hope raises Minnie, the daughter, and of the 'extraordinary' bond. The story of the maternal parent, Anna, is pretty much ignored. And - SPOILER ALERT - ultimately forgives Hope. The Irish mid-wife, the African American politician father who only cares about what people think of him; (the African American aspect was merely a cheap and obvious device to ensure the child was mixed race). Not terribly well written, not sensitively written and not credible. As a parent, No. Just. NO.

[Alice Motion · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is why I should never take book recommendations from my mother.

[Stefe · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love Dawn French but I also like my books to be realistic. This book was too fantastical to be credible.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up

Totally a commercial soap opera with an over the top ending to boot. Maybe not great literature, I realize many following the Women's Prize have not liked it, but I was totally captivated by the audiobook and in the end thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Aoife Cassidy McM · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was an awful book. I found the beginning and the end very distressing, and most of the rest of it farcical and not funny. It’s a Marmite book: I’m really not sure it’s one you could be on the fence about.

The premise is interesting: two women in labour in a maternity hospital on New Year’s Eve 1999; only one of the women will leave with a baby. The two families’ lives are tracked over time until eventually their worlds collide with startling consequences.

I’m loathe to say any more about the plot for fear of spoiling it for anyone who plans on reading it. It deals with what are very serious weighty issues with the lightest of touches and attempts to bring humour into a devastating situation. The slapstick manner in which it’s done though stretches credulity (and my patience and tolerance) to breaking point.

The male characters in it are terrible - the incompetent police inspector’s character is so overwritten it’s cringeworthy. Julius the politician appears to be without a humane bone in his body (I guess Trump proved that is actually possible but it just didn’t stack up with Julius). Isaac (or Quiet Isaac as he is called throughout the book) is supposed to be the good guy, but his actions suggest otherwise. Lee, a two-dimensional cheeky chappie builder-type who makes a good cup a tea, is lovingly referred to by everyone as “Twat” 🤷🏼‍♀️.

I had no sympathy for the wrongdoers despite the author’s best efforts to reward them at every turn. I was upset by the ending, not because I’d formed any emotional attachment to the characters but because I was taken aback and appalled - credit to the author for the final plot twist I didn’t see coming (but perhaps should have).

I grew up watching French & Saunders so I could hear Dawn French’s very distinct voice in my head as I was reading it. She’s funny and talented but I really disliked this book. It was upsetting and irritating in equal measure.

I suppose I have to address the fact that it was longlisted for the Women’s Prize. I like the fact that the Women’s Prize consider all books, literary and storytelling, for the accolade. A great book does not have to be a literary masterpiece. A book with a great story told well can knock your socks off. This one certainly has a good story, albeit bizarrely and insensitively told. Bernardine Evaristo’s (chair of the Women’s Prize) blurb (“fantastic” - 🤐) was on the cover. 1/5 ⭐️

***Major TW for stillbirth/infant loss (that’s not a spoiler as it’s part of the premise) and other upsetting things I won’t say as they’d spoil it. I’m off now to find something to cheer me up 😐. I bought this on Kindle special which is the only crumb of consolation in this whole sorry review.

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

We've all read or heard of stories where the wrong baby is taken home, yeah?

And this is a version of that.

On the same day, two mothers give birth - one baby lives and one dies.

Hope is the grieving mother and as she leaves the hospital, the grief hits her particularly hard. She is wobbly and bouncing off walls on her way out. She falls against the wall right at the room where the other mother and baby are - and she opportunistically grabs their child. The parents are sleeping.

We can definitely understand the impulse in that moment. The hard part for her and anyone else to be sympathetic to is that she kept the baby. And so she does, for 17 years.

I'm finding it difficult to distill what I thought about this story. The blurb says 'told with her signature humour, warmth and so much love'. And we can hear Dawn French's voice throughout. If you follow Dawn at all, you know what I mean. But I actually thought that hearing Dawn's 'voice' throughout was distracting. And the humour, such as it was in a difficult story such as this, was like 'cheap'. And I didn't laugh, and after the first couple of throw out lines, didn't even smile. It began to annoy me.

But the build up of the relationship between Hope and 'her daughter' and the way the reveal was dealt with and how the daughter was reunited with her biological mother was acceptable. The warmth of the mother / daughter relationship (with both mothers) was there and true to the Dawn we think we know.

The ending was too abrupt for me.

I've read a couple of Dawn's books, because I really like her as an actress, and to what we think we know about her. But I do hesitate, because I don't really enjoy them. Maybe she's given too much license. I think that she could be edited more.

As you know, reviews are subjective and other people are going to love this.

[Alanna Inserra · Rating 1 out of 5]

How can this have such a high rating on goodreads?Nonsensical choices, one dimensional characters, unbelievable dialogue. This lacked any credibility. A couple of clumsy attempts to dial into diversity. Really, save your time and don’t bother - how can complex and sensitive subject matter be treated in such a blunt way? You can tell the author is a comedian, taking pot shots when it isn’t appropriate.

Just to give you a sense of the insanity:
- a man’s girlfriend steals a baby from the hospital after her own baby dies. He accepts the child as his daughter. Criminal daddy the promptly leaves for Sierra Leone because he can’t lie to his daughter....even though him feeling a true, deep need be a father is the reason he doesn’t turn his girlfriend in.
- absent criminal father sends stolen daughter yearly letters, which she doesn’t receive until she is 17. When he finally turns up stolen daughter embraces him automatically and unthinkingly as her real dad. No abandonment issues, no resentment.
- criminal mummy tells stolen daughter the truth at age 17. Why? Who knows. They then turn themselves in at the police station. Why? Who knows.
- criminal mummy kills herself so stolen daughter can have a heart transplant?! Somehow they are a match and she gets the heart.

[thewoollygeek (tea, cake, crochet & books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this story broke me, but in a beautiful good way, it’s a complete tearjerker, it looks at the nature of relationships and family, a mother’s love, her emotions, it’s full of heartache, grief loss, but it’s absolutely beautiful, it’s happy as well as sad, don’t want to put anyone off , it’s full of forgiveness and the most important things, full of hope and love. That ending ! You never get the full details of what happened, is happening until the end and what an end.

Absolutely beautiful

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion .

[Alice Biggar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love Dawn French but this book was very two dimensional. I was really intrigued by the premise and had high hopes but I wasn’t vaguely moved by it, the jokey narrative seemed to jar with the subject matter. It felt a little unbelievable how so many major revelations were so quickly forgiven. I wanted it to build but it didn’t ever arrive. It’s a perfectly “ok read” but nothing ground breaking here

[Tripfiction · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audiobook and as it is narrated by the author herself, there is a real quality of diction and a good variety of voices and accents. It is entertaining and well produced and you can tell that she reads the text overall with warmth and a smile. The author is a compelling narrator and storyteller, she is after all quite a national treasure.

The start of a new Millennium – 1st of January 2000 – sees two couples in hospital in London, both in the throes of giving birth. Julian and Anna are in one room and Hope and Quiet Isaac in another. They are moving through the stages of labour, each couple progressing at their own pace. But only one mother gets to take a daughter home.

The story then focusses mainly on the mother-daughter relationship as baby Minnie grows into womanhood and finds herself pregnant at 17. This is the trigger point when all secrets that have followed Minnie and mother around start to be revealed. The reader already knows much of the story, therefore there are no real surprises as such. It is the emotional fall-out that takes centre stage.

Many reviewers have been bowled over by the heart-rending nature of story and have really loved it: “sad and happy” “full of love” “emotionally draining” “a real tear jerker”. The Guardian writes: ‘Dawn tackles the big ones – love, death, grief, childhood, motherhood, parenthood – head on’. And indeed she does.

I rather struggled with the, I suppose, rather simplistic response to a very serious event which then snowballed. When the big reveal comes there is of course upset, which then is made better by a cup of tea, together with the response from Minnie “Soz for the ugly things I said” in the heat of the moment. You would expect Minnie to be outraged and, well, beside herself, apoplectic, devastated and traumatised (at the very least) when the situation is laid bare and the “ugly things” expressed would be the least of their worries.

Considering the gravity of past events, Minnie would be facing all the big – and VERY powerful and overwhelming – emotions that come thundering down on her all at once: to wit, deceit, death, rejection, abandonment, secrecy, shock, belonging, loss and many more; these could only to a tiny extent be mitigated by a mother’s devoted and unwavering love. The intensity of the crisis would be incredibly hard to manage for everyone involved – and especially for Minnie; and to be honest a quick cuppa and apology really don’t cut it. Secrets in the family – and this particular secret is a corker – invariably crack a family apart. In the novel it all felt far too schmalzy given what happened.

The ending also is quite fantastical. All I will say is that when there is an unexpected death, a coroner has to get involved and organ donation is not on the agenda. Just no way!

In order to keep the storyline from getting too morose, I suspect the author has picked out characters whom she has moulded into real stereotypes, clichés even. Julius is a ghastly backbencher who is a narcissist, determined to do anything to promote his career. He hopes to be the first PM of colour (sorry, Rishi, if you (ever) had your eye on that position), he is clearly in part modelled on a specific someone in our government and is, frankly loathsome and crass, at times consigned to being a buffoon (clue!), in order to make his behaviour somehow more palatable. The author clearly has had a lot of fun constructing him but then, she has a very suitable ministerial model from which to work, in all his full awfulness and venal ugliness. One of the police officers involved in the story is a parody of a thick policeman who muddles his metaphors which is funny but only up to a point. He is a rather depressing and stereotyped character and further lets the storytelling side down.

I could see the charm in the writing that others have praised in the narrative – it is indeed warm and heartfelt but sadly it really didn’t work for me. The publicists have highlighted Russell Brand’s one word comment – “incredible” – to promote the book but if you look up the dictionary definition of ‘incredible’ you will see that the word actually means “impossible to believe / difficult to believe. Extraordinary“. I am firmly in Russell’s camp.

Location isn’t strong

[Dawnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It felt a bit over the top and as if its trying too hard to be something.

As if its want to be this light and fluffy story but the plot itself doesn’t really fit with that, and its too silly and full of plot holes that honestly don’t make sense, if the author actually sat down and researched a little?

Lets use my biggest issue as an example: i am not an expert at all, but i am almost positive that a woman that suffered from placental abruption and bleed very heavily during labor would have just send home hours later, or even capable of getting there. I mean maybe in the UK? it just doesn’t sound right to me.

The humor in all situations felt forced to me, the characters and their behaviors illogical and unrealistic especially for the situations they were in, also no character actually had real characteristics. I can’t even remember the names of them… i think the stillborn was called Minnie. That should tell you something, if i can only remember that name! It all felt a bit random and disconnected, jumping from one thing to the next. The time jumps in the book certainly didn’t help with that.

Also the ending of this book was actually ridiculous? This book was just very strange.

if you want something special and a well done and written story, that is heartbreaking and makes you feel with the mothers and the child that goes through what’s happening in this book?
i wouldn’t recommend this book for that.

[Donna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. Dawn French is a talented comedian, but this book is dreadful and so unrealistic with so many errors. There seems to have been no research done on any of the themes. How did it get past the editor?
Firstly, Julius is not a Psychopath, he is a Sociopath.
There is no way a hospital would release a post-partum mother just hours after a still-birth, placenta abruption and a hot shower, without addressing something as simple as even drying up the breast milk, let alone the huge psychological issues!
DF has a mixed ethnicity daughter, so was this supposed to be a PC attempt?
Minnie is raised in a much lower social class than she was born into. The vocabulary of the incredibly immature Hope, and how she raises Minnie as her BFF, is really grating.
The profound effect on Anna was so trivialised, and I wonder if this was a whack at "white privelege". The attitude they have towards Minnie's birth family is atrocious.
I listened to the audiobook, as DF's best asset is her voice, and the reader gets a good indication of the author's intention, when the author narrates their own work, and, so DF with this crass, low-bow, baseless, flawed rubbish, lowered my opinion of her talent, several pegs.

[Katy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book as I’ve read and reread “A Tiny Bit Marvellous” many times, finding it warm and snug and insightful.

This book however was a struggle. As a parent to an infant I almost put it down never to be picked up again, but decided to persevere. The writing was as though Dawn French used dictation to get it all down - it’s all her voice, along with inconsistent descriptors for accents, OVERUSE of dodgy. Methods. For. Emphasis. And an
annoying
annoying
annoying
Collection of gimmicky methods I wouldn’t expect to see
Outside of teenage fiction.
Outside of YA.
Outside a diary.

I didn’t warm to the characters and I didn’t care. I feel a bit like a sucker who bought this book because it was written by Dawn French, which is precisely why I believe it got published as it is.
I will have to go and reread “A Tiny Bit Marvellous” to reset my usually very strong appreciation for Dawn French.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of the most infuriating books I've read in my whole life. I only finished it because it wasn't taking up my physical book reading time, and I wanted to have full thoughts in my journey to read the Women's Prize longlist picks.

I'm going to keep this short because I don't feel like writing a proper essay for Goodreads, and the other long option would probably be rambling and vitriolic. What you need to know: the plot is tired, the characters are two dimensional, and there is no accountability. Oh, also, trigger warning!: there's suicide at the end cuz why not throw that into the mix ... It's also probably a little racist, but I'm White, so I'll leave that to other reviewers.

If I was FORCED to find positives, the writing is fine and the author is also an actress, so the narration is good.

Normally I give read alikes, but I have never read anything this infuriating.