You will need a whole box of tissues for this heartbreaking tale of Irish. mothers and daughters. It truly captures the carelessness of men towards woman and the sadistic sanctimonious cruelty of nuns. Shame is the strongest emotion evoked in me. The shame that young expectant mothers were made to feel. Shame that the men in this story cared so little for women after they had their way with them. I wish that Aoife and Rosaleen had felt able to fight harder against the patriarchy in this moving story.

As a Catholic myself I was really drawn in by the blurb and storyline of this book. This is the story of three generations of Irish women whose lives were changed the Catholic Church in Ireland due to unplanned pregnancy. This is something which has had a severe impact on many Catholic women throughout Irish history and so a tackling subject for the author, who I think covered the issue excellently.

This tackles so many important issues around mental health, control, religion and female relationships in a thought provoking way that really hits home with the reader.