Our Stolen Child: An absolutely gripping and heartbreaking page-turner

I grip my husband's hand tight. The doctor is frowning. "Mr and Mrs Marcello... I'm so sorry." She tells us there's been a terrible mistake. Our last embryo-our last chance-was accidentally given to someone else. The child we made four years ago calls another woman "Mommy."

Quinn cries silent tears as she folds a tiny knitted cardigan, bought in a moment of hope, and packs it away. All she's ever wanted is to be a mother. Although her husband James brings her comfort, the knowledge they have no embryos left, and that their child is out there being raised by another family, is tearing them both apart.

When the lawyers tell them there's a chance to get custody, James is unsure. But Quinn knows she has to take it: if only to look her little girl in the eyes, just once. Meeting Emily and the woman who raised her, Quinn's heart cracks wide open. Emily looks just like Quinn, right down to her curly hair. And when the little girl flings her arms around Quinn's waist, she can't shake the feeling this is where Emily is meant to be.

As the two families reckon with an unimaginable decision, a secret from James' past surfaces... one that forces Quinn to question everything she thought she wanted. But how will they decide what's right for the little girl they all love so dearly? And where does Emily truly belong?

An absolutely unputdownable, heart-wrenching read about two families torn apart by one terrible mistake. Anyone who loves Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper, Diane Chamberlain and Catherine Ryan Hyde won't be able to put this down.

Read what everyone's saying about Melissa Wiesner:

"I just couldn't put it down... had my heart broken into pieces and put back together in every chapter." Nicki's Book Blog, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Wow! Wow! Wow! What an absolutely mind-spinning, beautiful story this was!... perfection... Stunning, absolutely stunning!" NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"This book has just made my day... amazing... Oh goshh!... Trust me, you'll fall in love with every character... worth my tears... Highly recommended!!" Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Absolutely amazing... will keep you up all night to finish. I felt so pulled into this story from the very first page... hits all the emotions... one to be remembered." Page Turners, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"I read this book in 24 hours... I loved the authors writing style... just devoured this book... outstanding." @bookdreamer_51800

"Loved... one of my favorite books I've read so far this year. I would give it fifty gold stars if I could." Meanderings and Muses, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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262 pages

Average rating: 10

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jenlynerickson

Mar 03, 2024

10/10 stars

“What if you had no idea you had a child, and then all of a sudden, four years in, you found out your child existed? Would you be able to go on with your life knowing that somewhere out there is a child who is made up of all the best parts of you…and that child belongs to someone else?” Quinn Marcello is the biological mother of Emily; Nora Robinson is a genetic stranger to Emily. “A baby’s first word is usually Mama. Who would be Mama?...Nora was the one who Emily called Mommy. All because five years ago, someone in a lab somewhere mislabeled a test-tube…It wasn’t every day that embryos ended up in the wrong woman’s uterus, and quite a few people were interested in the outcome of their case–attorneys, fertility clinics, couples going through IVF treatments…If the court were to grant custody to Ms. Robinson…this would set a dangerous precedent of finders keepers that could have far-reaching effects on the entire field of assisted reproductive technology.” “Everything she had ever wanted in life…was to be a mother. But how could she live with herself if she got what she wanted at the expense of so many other people? At the expense of what was best for her own child?...She’d been so fixated on getting custody of Emily that she’d lost sight of what was best for her.” Melissa Wiesner’s Our Stolen Child is about the battle between heartbreak and anger, joy and hope, genetic parents and gestational parents, and “the importance of the people who came before you…there’s more to family than where you’re from. More than hair and eye color…biology is a powerful connection.” But the bravery to let go can be an incredibly selfless act. Sometimes the most painful choices become the best surprises.

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