The Family She Lost: An utterly gripping and emotional family saga

Praise for Jeanne Whitmee:

‘Page-turning vitality.’ Daily Mail

‘Virtually unputdownable.’ Peterborough Evening Telegraph

Lose yourself in a sweeping saga of a mother, her lost daughters, and the long road back to love.

Perfect for fans of Lesley Pearse, Annie Murray, Diane Allen, Dilly Court, and Lyn Andrews .

Belfast, the late 1960s. Convent-raised Marie O'Connor is just sixteen when she falls head over heels for charming Liam Costello. When she discovers she is pregnant, Liam promises her the world — a little house by the sea, a wedding ring, a family of their own.

But the man Marie trusts with all her young heart has hidden a bomb in her suitcase. Within hours of stepping off the boat in England, her dreams lie in pieces. Marie is on her way to prison for a crime she did not commit.

Behind cold prison walls she gives birth to twin baby girls, and watches in agony as they are lifted from her arms and given to strangers to raise.

Twenty years later, Marie has built herself a new life on the Dorset coast, working in a thriving clifftop hotel. She can almost let herself believe the past is behind her.

But the husband she married knows the truth about her old life.

So when a kind country doctor begins to call at the hotel, Marie glimpses the first real chance of happiness she has known in twenty years.

Then a letter arrives. Her twin daughters — the headstrong Leah and tender Sally — are searching for the mother they have never known.

The past is coming home at last. And Marie must find the courage to face it, or lose the family she has waited a lifetime to find.

One woman's journey of love and forgiveness. The Family She Lost is a powerful, heart-wrenching saga of motherhood, resilience, and the courage of starting again.

Please note this book was previously published as The Long Way Home .

Readers are loving The Family She Lost:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This book was always hard to put down.’ K. D.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘The characters came to life.’ Mary Jane V.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This was a lovely novel.’ Harry M.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘An exceptional book.’ Pat
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Beautifully done!’ Hazel