I really enjoyed this story and the way it was written was perfect. The story is all about our main characters Tess and Annie. Both women are mothers trying to raise their children the only way they know how the only difference is while Annie's daughter is a well behaved angel Tess' son is a bit of a wild child. And to make matters worse Tess has always wanted a daughter and never a son so she sort of has a tainted look at everything to do with her poor little boy. When an accident with poor Freddie reveals that with his blood type it is impossible that Tess and her husband are the parents that starts her brain whirling. When a DNA test proves that they are not the parents of poor Freddie things start to fall apart. If Freddie is not Tess' son then where is her child? And is her child the daughter she always dreamed of? I found this book to be really well written and it leaves the reader in such a moral dilemma. What would you do in that case? Fight for the child that is your own blood out there? Or fight to keep the child that you thought was yours all these years? I've never read a story even remotely like this and it was such an interesting concept that it really makes you wonder as a reader what you would do in that situation, or wonder how many times something like this has happened to people around the world. I found Tess' character very sad. How could a mother be so cold towards her own son it just didn't make sense. I can't imagine raising a child for years only to find out he isn't mine and then be kind of happy about that because he's wild. It was very sad, however that is part of what made this story so interesting. Once I got into this story I couldn't put it down for any reason, it kept calling to me and I had to find out what was going to happen. Great book and I'm very glad I got the chance to check it out. If family thrillers are your book of choice than this is one that should go to the top of the list.

The Swap is possibly every parents worst nightmare - finding out your baby isn't actually your child - raising and loving a child for 3 years and due to a freak accident finding out the child you've loved, nurtured and brought up within your family unit was accidentally swapped during an IVF treatment.This is the nightmare that Tess and Annie find themselves embroiled in when Tess who is raising  3 year old Freddie in England with her husband and 2 older sons discovers the mix-up.  Meanwhile Annie and her husband Carl are living with their beloved and cherished only child Willow in America when their lives are turned upside down.As a mother I was totally gripped by the storyline and was able to feel the emotions, confusion and despair of both mothers throughout the book.  Personally, I found the story was plausible and dealt with in a sensitive manner.  I would totally recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I very much enjoyed this book even though the subject matter was very hard to read about. There was a mixup at the IVF clinic and embryos are implanted into the wrong women the mistake is discovered after an accident means one child needs a blood transfusion and its clear his blood type would be impossible based on his supposed parentage. The story is told from the point of view on the Mothers mainly concentrate on Tess a well off woman holding back a secret heartache. When she discovered she had a biological daughter she can't concentrate on anything else and I really felt for her youngest son Freddie and I really disliked her to start with. However as the story progresses it becomes clear why she is the way she is and I warmed to her. Annie is very different and I liked her almost immediately. I think Fiona has written this book in a very clever way showing the family-wide impacts of such a huge mistake. After reading this I can honestly say I would have no idea what I would do in their position.

I finished #TheSwap last night. What an impossible situation for a mother. I couldn't help put myself in the shoes of the characters. it's a perfect book club read - both thought-provoking & heartbreaking. (My heart broke for Freddie at least a dozen times)

Tess and Matteo attend a fertility clinic in the US to try for the longed for daughter. Annie and Carl also attend the same clinic. Somehow their embryos get mixed up and the women give birth to a child that is not biologically theirs. Three years later Tess is in a car crash with her child Freddie and while they are getting treatment in hospital, they find out that Freddie's blood type is not a match for either hers or Matteo's. They contact the clinic and go to America to find out what went wrong. Tess is psychologically fragile - she didn't go through with the gender selection and had another boy. She is quite emotionally distant from him. Annie, on the other hand, has a loving relationship with her daughter Willow. The story delves into the ethical considerations of the situation, the human factors at play and the emotions of the parents and extended families. The book tackles these issues quite well - it was much more enjoyable than I thought it would be when I started reading. I felt that Tess's behaviour was a little overdone. She seemed very repressed yet did some mad stuff without contemplating the consequences which seemed to me to be out of character, despite the fact that she was suffering from depression and grief. It's a good read.

Good, but given the subject matter it didn't go very deep. Too much detail at times, when I just wanted to know what happened next. I felt for little Freddie the most. I would have liked more at the end. None of the adult characters were likeable, although you could certainly emphasise with them. Thought-provoking, but should have gone deeper in my humble opinion. Thanks as always Netgalley.

Thank you Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC

This is a quick, fast paced read.
Two petri dishes are swapped at the IVF clinic, resulting in two woman giving birth to each other's child. This only comes to light when one of the children needs a blood transfusion. Although the subject is heartwrenching, the tone of the book is quite airy. We mainly follow the mothers, who couldn't have been more different from each other. One a posh career woman, the other a sloppy wannabee artist.
At first they only seem to care about what should rightfully be theirs, but through the course of the story they come to realise how blessed they are.
However gripping the subject of this book is, it never got too deep and never brought tears to my eyes. It's just a well told story, not leaving a massive impression.

The Swap is such an emotional rollercoaster, yet poignantly uplifting at the same time. Long after I turned the last page, the story and the characters remained on my mind - something that happened with Fiona's debut novel The Maid's Room and is indicative of her talent to make characters so real you think they live next door!. Fiona's writing is evocative and her prose beautiful but the narrative packs a big punch and raises issues that gets you talking to friends about "What would you do if. . . ?"
So a quick synopsis without too many spoilers . . .
Tess lives in the UK, she is highly strung and it would be fair to say not a natural mother. Freddie, an IVF baby and her youngest son is certainly a challenge and tantrums and biting other children is a regular occurrence . Tess has always had a suspicion that Freddie isn't hers and when Freddie's bad behaviour leads to a car crash, her suspicions are confirmed; he is not her biological child. Tess also has another terrible secret she cannot bear to reveal.

Anna lives in Florida with her beloved daughter Willow and is the polar opposite of Tess. Anna suffers from extraordinary insecurities and her husband doesn't help matters either! We soon find out that Willow is not Anna's daughter. She is Tess'.

My lips are sealed to avoid spoilers but I will ask you these questions before you buy this book:

Is Motherhood biological or underpinned by its own experience?
Could you willingly let go of a child you thought to be your own, if you knew they were in fact, not?
Tough questions that will undoubtedly play on your mind as you read this wonderful book.
I highly recommend. Sit down, grab a cup of tea and enjoy! You won't be disappointed!
Thank you to Fiona Mitchell, the publisher and Netgalley for an arc of this book.

Although the story sounds very promising, I was rather disappointed. A large part of the book is devoted to describe, in minute detail, what two three year olds are doing. Willow, the daughter Tess feels she should have had, is a nice enough girl with even some manners, but Freddie is a typical badly behaving little boy. They scream and shout and demand, demand, demand.
I could relate to the behavior of those kids because our neighbors happen to have a bunch of Freddies... which is absolutely horrible.
Anyway, reading about every movement the children make is very boring. Annie, Willow's mother, is a rather poor and insecure woman. Tess, Freddie's mother, is a rather rich and insecure woman. Nothing, absolutely nothing in this story is positive. All characters suffer from scratches, pain, cold sores (yech, imagine someone with an upper lip full of those things...) which are described in detail, they poo in public (Freddie) or cry and scream (almost all of them).
Everything surrounding the families is dirty, decrepit and disappointing. When the sun shines, it is too hot. When it rains, it is not a gentle rain but a pouring rain.
For me, there is no clear ending to the story too. I finished the book because I was curious to read how the author would solve this (I must admit) very interesting problem but I learned nothing new.

Thanks to Netgally for this digital copy.

Two women undergo IVF at an American clinic... Due to human error, the embryos of the two couples are mixed up and transferred into the wrong women’s wombs. As a result, two babies are born into families to whom, unknown to anyone, they have no genetic connection. A boy, Freddie - their third son - is born to Tess and Matteo in Surrey; a girl, Willow, to Annie and Carl in Florida.

It’s not until the children are three years old that the truth comes to light, dropping a bomb into both families. The effects are, not surprisingly, far reaching - and skilfully dissected by Fiona Mitchell.

Although Tess has undoubtedly suffered, I found her such an unsympathetic character that it was very hard to empathise with her. She has clearly never bonded with Freddie and seems to regard him, even before learning about the swap, as something of an interloper who has
never fitted in, taking the place of the girl she really wanted. Perhaps as a result, Freddie’s behaviour often makes him hard work, generating a vicious cycle whereby Tess finds the poor little boy even harder to love. I was honestly worried about poor Freddie’s well-being, both emotional and physical. And I was flabbergasted to finally learn the truth about what happened, or rather why it happened, to Tess and Matteo’s first daughter. I don’t even know what to say or feel about it.

Annie and Carl meanwhile, while poorer, scruffier and much less apparently successful, are far more likeable, though Annie has her own issues to contend with. The relationship between Annie and the elderly Tom was very touching.

The idea of “the swap” is an alarming and intriguing one - and having experienced IVF myself I can certainly relate to some of the feelings involved. It’s made pretty clear though that there are enough safeguards in place that such a mix-up should never be able to happen, except under extraordinary circumstances (here, a doctor flagrantly disregarding regulations and two women with identical surnames. Although, I’d hope that if you knew there were two patients with the same surname in at the same time, you’d take extra care not to mix them up.)

The Swap is an intriguing and well observed read about an almost unbearably difficult situation.

'The Swap' was a gripping read right from the off. The crisp prose style gives it a real sense of immediacy, taking the reader right to the crux of the main characters and the heartbreaking issues they face. I found myself thinking and talking about this novel a lot while I was reading it, and Tess and Annie will stay with me long after finishing it. A fantastic book all round.

Interesting premise and a good read with well rounded characters. Thanks for the chance to review this novel.

Annie and Tess both fell pregnant with a baby that was not genetically their own following an embryo mix up at an American fertility clinic. Their children are aged three when the mix up becomes apparent, although both have had their own suspicions about the children who do not seem quite their own. Each woman feels drawn to the genetic child she has not met before, and both women go to extreme lengths to try to build some form of relationship with them.

Annie and Tess's characters felt very real, and I felt loyal to each of them in turn. I could not see a resolution in which either woman would be happy, knowing that her genetic child was being raised by someone else. The ups and downs of navigating a complex emotional and legal tragedy were carefully crafted, and I found the story very believable. It was beautifully written and there were some lovely phrases that I had to re-read. I really enjoyed reading The Swap and found it hard to put down.

EDIT : I have now received my copy and am very excited to finally start it- thank you so much Hodder and Netgalley