Abandoned Love

Rosie Houghton

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Why I wrote this book

This book is based on my true story. I always knew I was adopted, but desperate not to hurt my adoptive mother's feelings did not set out to find my real mother Miriam. Then by chance when we emigrated to the South of France I was to encounter two Irish people who knew my mother. This book is about that journey and the extraordinary twists and turns that present themselves to you when you find out the truth. It is also about the extraordinary battle my adoptive mother had not only to get me as she was 45 years old at the time and too old to adopt but also the extraordinary lengths she went to to keep me when her husband suddenly died. After reading this book you should be left in no doubt that their is life after death.

Which three authors’ work would you compare your writing to?

Constance Briscoe "Beyond Ugly" because her story is a true story like mine.

Caro Fraser "The Trustees" A retired lawyer who writes in a similar style

Tony Parsons "Man and Boy" For the way parallel stories present themselves.

Synopsis

Based on a true story about the author finding her real mother in the South of France, Abandoned Love is a compulsive, emotive read This novel is about three women, Miriam, Marjorie and Rosie. Miriam, a Lucie Clayton model, falls in love in 1960s Dublin with a South African businessman. Unable to go through with an abortion, or tell her parents, she heads to London, to consider offering her child up for a private adoption. Marjorie has let life pass her by, until in her 40s, she meets the love of her life Arthur. They marry, but cannot have children. At 44, she meets Miriam and agrees to look after her daughter with a view to adopting her. Rosie grows up in a largely dysfunctional, albeit privileged home. She daren't tell anyone she is adopted for fear of hurting her adoptive mother. She eventually tells her fiancee when she mistakenly thinks she herself is pregnant. They agree that to contact her real mother would devastate Marjorie, so do nothing. The years pass. After successful careers Rosie and her family emigrate to the South of France where, one sunny day, they go to a restaurant in St Paul de Vence. Bumping into an Irish couple, Rosie (who has always known the name of her birth mother) asks if they know a Miriam Sullivan-Cody - and to her surprise they do. Yet it is too late, Rosie finds out her mother died of breast cancer aged 44. Following this revelation, Rosie makes the trip to Ireland to discover her real family, and to find answers to the questions she's always had.

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