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. How did Minnie get so attached to Issac on the basis of a one way letter communication, read in one sitting?

This book oozes compassion and empathy, especially concentrating as it does on a difficult and emotive subject matter. 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. 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.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. 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. 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 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. A mother's true love for their child, the ultimate gift and a decision as monumental and dramatic as the one which started the whole story.

Dawn French said in her interview that she wanted to explore the themes of nature vs nurture and loss.This is quite a feat when the reader’s are asked to frequently shift who their sympathy and empathy is aimed at. 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. This shows that those assumptions were well-founded, and honestly, I think Dawn French would rather I didn’t hate-read her novel just because it’s on the Women’s Prize longlist!