I read this book and found that i could hear Dawn French as I read. There are some very challenging situations here. Can it ever be right to steal someone else's baby even if you have suffered the trauma of still birth? I think the ending was too simplified and I did not really like the main character.

I didn't like this book at all.

I didn't even realise who the author was until I started reading it - and don't think that I've read anything by her before.

I felt that the author was trying to write something "gritty" and edgy and doesn't manage to be either.

There were, I feel, so many plot holes in this book and I felt it to be so unrealistic that I ended up skim reading to the end.

I hate to say it, but I think it was only published because of who the author is.

My heart hurts after finishing this book.

I fell in love with all the characters, bar one (you’ll figure that person out for yourself)

I wish there was more to this because I thought Minnie story was definitely not over.

Undoubtedly worth five stars.

Absolutely loved it, one of my favourites this year. I got really invested in the characters as they were so well written. The story was so lovely and left me with a smile on my face. I highly recommend this book.

A disappointing read, the ending seemed rushed. The characters were unbelievable.
I’m afraid this book was not for me
Thank you to Netgalley, and Michael Joseph for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review

This is the first novel that I’ve read by Dawn French but it definitely won’t be the last as I completely and utterly adored it. It follows two women who both give birth on the same day but only one woman gets to take her baby home. The novel then follows each of the two women, and the child as she grows up, and we see what their lives have been like. I found this book so engrossing and I wanted to devour it but also to read it so slowly as I didn’t want it to ever end. I still keep thinking of the characters and wondering how they are. This was an emotional and beautiful novel and one I already want to read again!

I didn’t expect to get so drawn into the message behind this story. I even had a long discussion with my husband about elements of nature/nurture, morality, the power of grief and forgiveness. This very rarely happens and his strongly opposing view to mine made me realise what an amazing writer Dawn French is….because she made me feel empathy for a woman who had committed a criminal act and deprived another woman of her newborn baby.

Because Of You left me feeling like an emotional wreck. Especially the ending which I did not see coming. Maybe because I have just lost my own mum the story resonated strongly with me. I tried to put myself in the place of the characters…Hope, Minnie, Anna, to see how I would feel in their position. Each one had the right to feel wronged, deprived and deeply distressed. Is forgiveness an option I could face? and just how important is the bond between a mother and her child?

The characters are vividly portrayed and the rawness of stillbirth is described beautifully but may be too much for someone who has experienced this. However, the depth of grief was needed to explain the act of a desperate and traumatised woman.

There is humour and warmth in the dialogue, especially between Hope and Minnie but this is not a lighthearted book. I ached to find out what became of the stillborn child sent to the hospital mortuary and found the pace irregular, but I would still consider this to be a great read. It is thought provoking, emotionally charged with a story that stays with you long after the last page has turned.

Astonishing book of love, compassion, heartbreak and forgiveness. I cried, laughed and enjoyed every word until the end. The characters were real and individual and I could relate to them. A book not to miss

It took me a little while to get into this book. I think as an incredible rational human being I could just not grasp the fact that someone would just take someone else's baby. I'm not a mother, and I have experienced that level of love or loss and so maybe I just didn't relate, at the beginning.

But as the story unfolded and we got to know more about Minnie, and Hope, and Anna and their lives, then whilst I never understood I could see the beauty in it.

There were still a lot of surprises for me, even in this well-known story where the wrong baby goes home with the wrong mother. And whilst I never loved the characters, I appreciated their flawed humanity.

This book was described as funny, but I didn't see that. Sure there were superficial jokes and laughs but this isn't a funny book, at least not to me. It was just full of heartache and pain, but redemption too.

Really enjoyed this book. Great characters and such a heart wrenching story. The ending was absolutely brilliant. Highly recommended.

Goodness me! This is a powerful story and one well worth reading. There’s a definite satisfaction of completeness to the ending and the story getting there is full of warmth and love. I found this book enthralling. Enjoyable, tear jerking and at times funny. Well worth a read.

Thank you Netgalley

Dawn French gets better with every book. I absolutely loved this novel which examined the depths of a mother’s love, nature versus nurture and the burden of guilt. The premise: two mothers give birth on the same day but only one leaves the hospital with a baby, is both simple but extremely complex. I laughed, cried and, despite the fact that Hope’s action’s have devastating consequences, identified.
Highly recommend. Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for this e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first NetGalley read in a while! I love Dawn French and was expecting great things from her new release, but actually felt a bit disappointed by this one.

Hope and Anna both find themselves in the hospital and about to give birth on the same day, 1st January 2000. When Hope suffers a tragic stillbirth, she takes Anna's sleeping baby on the way out of the hospital and tells her family and friends that she is her own. Meanwhile, Anna and her husband wake to find their baby gone, and a nationwide investigation begins.

The baby, named Minnie by Hope, lives a happy life with Hope, in a secure, loving and supportive family environment. They have a close bond, but Hope lives with the weight of her lie sitting heavily on her shoulders and knows that, at some stage, she will have to come clean. When Minnie falls pregnant, Hope knows that it's now or never.

I'll start with the positives. I liked that both Hope's story and Anna's story are given equal attention in the novel. Hope is a grieving mother; having lost her daughter in childbirth she is completely traumatised. Anna wakes up to find that someone has stolen her child. Dawn French has made a conscious decision here to shine a spotlight on Hope, the woman who is essentially the villain of the piece, having kidnapped another woman's child. We learn of her background, her hopes and dreams, and the devastation that led to her making the split second decision to take Minnie. And yet Hope never refers to what she did as a mistake. She knows it was wrong, but how can she say that the 18 years spent with her beautiful daughter have been a mistake? I thought it was handled sensitively and it was good to see an alternative interpretation to how a case like this would usually be written about or portrayed.

Something I found quite hard to engage with was Minnie's reaction to the news when Hope comes clean with her. She's initially shocked, but within a couple of hours seems completely over it. Likewise, Anna seems to feel no resentment towards Hope, even asking Hope's permission to see Minnie. Many readers would read this and wonder why Anna needs to ask permission to see her own daughter from the woman who kidnapped her? I can appreciate that after 18 years of not knowing, Anna may feel very differently about how to approach the situation and doesn't want to fight, but it just felt a little off to me.

This was a heartwrenching story of a day when 2 babies were born in the same hospital. One is stillborn and the other goes missing whilst her mother catches a first sleep. Her life is turned upside down. The other mum is also going through tortures of her own.
It really pulls on your heartstrings the whole way through.

Difficult to read in many ways. Emotionally challenging, heartrending, and beautifully written.
there is little I can say except that it is a deeply thpought provoking book, which you may need to take time reading.

I enjoy a story that pushes me out of my comfort zone and Because of You certainly did that!

Narrations for both Hope and Anna tangled me up in knots emotionally. It’s difficult when you know something is wrong but understand totally. And then you see the effect it has on someone else’s life … I was conflicted with my feelings. Is one person more deserving than another? Who should be the judge of that?

Hope and Anna couldn’t have had different backgrounds. Hope has taught herself skills that have gotten her through some tough times and which come into play over the next 18 years – I saw Anna as being more vulnerable. It’s Anna we see learning about herself and becoming stronger.

I enjoyed Dawn French’s writing style and her use of figurative language:
“<snip> the winter sun was leaving at a lick in order to honour her commitments in other warmer parts of the world.”

I loved the reference to the sun being female (with most cultures seeing the sun as masculine).

The ending isn’t what I was expecting at all … very emotional.

New Years Eve, at the start of the millennium 2 women give birth. But only one of takes home a baby girl. as the other is a stillborn.

This book left me emotionally drained, not necessarily in a good way. The chapters are written from a different character's perspective, which kept the flow of the book going. But I had a hard time connecting with the characters, even though I felt for both Anna and Hope.

Not my usual type of book. But I was glad I had the chance to read something by Dawn French. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Because of You - Dawn French
Publishers: Michael Joseph
Publication Date: 15/10/20

An original and thought provoking read. The story flowed well and I loved the style of writing. My only issue was that the ethical dilemma posed was quite clear cut for me - stealing a baby is wrong. That said, I enjoyed the read very much. I’d like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for this advance digital copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I think this story broke me, but in a beautiful good way, it’s a complete tearjerker, it looks at the nature of relationships and family, a mother’s love, her emotions, it’s full of heartache, grief loss, but it’s absolutely beautiful, it’s happy as well as sad, don’t want to put anyone off , it’s full of forgiveness and the most important things, full of hope and love. That ending ! You never get the full details of what happened, is happening until the end and what an end.

Absolutely beautiful

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion .

Interesting book and a good read. Heart wrecking in places and very emotional. Lots of topics covered and a good ending.