Review: Hidden in the Heart by Catherine West

Claire Ferguson is a mess. Her mom died two years ago and, shortly after, she miscarried a baby. Her husband, James, thinks they’ll be okay–they can get pregnant again–but Claire spirals into depression and drinking. When she meets an old friend from high school days who has found her birth mother, Claire wonders if doing the same will fill the empty spot in her own heart and enable her to go on. After all, what if her miscarriage was a result of a genetic flaw? She has to know.

Now estranged from James and back living with her father, Claire begins the search. Her dad is furious and refuses to cooperate. Though she’d known about her adoption while growing up, her parents had never been willing to discuss it. Still, she’s unprepared for her dad’s fury. It doesn’t help that the social services worker gets back with Claire to tell her the birth mother does not want to release more information or connect with her.

With her dad gone away for business for a few days, Claire digs deep into his filing cabinets. What she finds there might change her life forever. . .or it might not mean a thing. If she wants to heal her life (which she does, some days) all she can do is move forward in an effort to find her identity.

Hidden in the Heart is the story of an adopted woman’s search for her identity and examines the various cans of worms that might be uncovered. It also delves deeply into depression and alcoholism, so this isn’t a tale for the faint of heart. I don’t read or review a lot of women’s fiction, but I found myself continuing to press the > button long after I should have gone to bed–two nights running! This is an awesome book that I truly enjoyed and would recommend to anyone interested in stories of adoption, family, and reconciliation.

Catherine West is an award-winning author writing inspirational stories of hope and healing from her island home in Bermuda. Educated in Bermuda, England and Canada, Catherine holds a degree in English from the University of Toronto. Her first novel, Yesterday’s Tomorrow, released in 2011, her second, Hidden in the Heart, in September, 2012. When she’s not at the computer working on her next story, you can find her taking her Border Collie for long walks or tending to her roses and orchids. She and her husband have two college-aged children. Catherine is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America, and is represented by Rachelle Gardner of Books & Such Literary. Catherine loves to connect with her readers and can be reached at Catherine@catherinejwest.com

November is National Adoption Month, and Catherine is blogging about adoption all throughout the month, sharing the stories of many on all sides of the issue. Check it out!

I received a digital copy of this novel from the author for the purposes of review. Opinions, as always, are mine alone.