After reading “My Secret Sister,” by Helen Edwards and Jenny Lee Smith, I would recommend reading “Secret Daughter” by Shilpi Somaya Gowda or “Please Adopt Me” by Lynne Pardoe. These books give the reader the same feeling. Jenny had been wealthy growing up, while Helen, her long lost twin was poor, abused and uncared for. Toward the second half of this novel, Jenny‘s father passed away. That extremely affected her life because he was a great
The author uses techniques like "I," "we," "me," "us," etc. to show the audience what perspective it is coming from. The author expresses how Helen feels, with powerful words to enhance the reader‘s imagination. I enjoy reading books like "My Secret Sister” because it shows how different life can be for the less fortunate and the fortunate. This is the ideal book for those who love emotional, dramatic and tense novels.
Helen was brought up during the post-war years. She was physically abused by her father and verbally mistreated by her mother. She only felt protected with her gran. Jenny Lee Smith, Helen‘s twin, grew up in Newcastle. She was an only child. Jenny was extremely loved by everyone, especially her father, who loved her dearly. She enjoyed playing golf with her family and friends. Edwards and Lee Smith wrote this novel in first person point of view.
pickAs an adoptive parent, I felt incredibly seen by this book. As Frankel herself points out, it‘s vanishingly rare to see adoption portrayed in the media as a source of a (complicated, human) joy.
pickI read this after seeing the recent review by @Brooke_H and it was a fast and interesting read about identical twins who were adopted by different families and only learned of each other as adults. The writing is chronological and told in alternating diary entries (ish) of both women. I found it fascinating.
so-soIt was ok. I‘ve already watched the movie,so I already knew it ended the way I wanted to. The plot and concept were great but I hope some of the things that happened in here don‘t happen irl.
pickThe long-lost identical twin is a ridiculous unbelievable trope, but it was Elyse and Paula's reality. Separated when just infants and adopted out to different families, the two sisters found each other when one of them wrote to the adoption agency asking for information on her birth mother. The two eventually discovered that they were part of a sketchy psychological nature/nurture study by a doctor at their adoption agency. A fascinating memoir.
This YA book published in 2019 was the subject of today‘s Banned book Club with Ali Velshi on MSNBC. It‘s banned in Tennessee & Indiana. His interview with the author, Robin Benway, was enlightening. Usually his show lands on YouTube within a week or two. @KateReadsYA Have you read this? I plan to now that i am aware of it.
