FROM THE CRITICS Publishers Weekly: The bonds of motherhood are yanked, twisted and stressed to the breaking point in Goudge's brazenly manipulative new novel (after Blessing in Disguise, 1994), which follows the fates of Ellie Porter Nightingale and the infant daughter stolen from her in 1972 in N.Y.C. Ellie's daughter has been raised as Skyler Sutton by a wealthy Connecticut couple who learned of the kidnapping but decided to keep their knowledge secret. Now 23, Skyler is pregnant, from a one-night stand with Manhattan cop Tony Salvatore; unwilling to raise a child, she decides to give up the baby for adoption-perhaps to one of Tony's acquaintances, that nice psychotherapist who is desperate to adopt a child: she is, of course, Ellie Porter Nightingale. The ensuing complications, though rarely unpredictable, are milked by Goudge for maximum melodrama, culminating in a swoony climax at a custody hearing. Goudge's prose, though often skillful and down-to-earth, can be plagued by too much descriptive detail and sentimentalized interior monologue. But her characters are sympathetic; her expressions of the fierce emotions of motherhood are immediate; and her crafty decision to reveal likely plot turns to her readers but not to her characters will keep all who love a secret riveted. 125,000 first printing; $125,000 ad/promo; paperback rights to Signet; Literary Guild main selection; author tour. (Mar.) Library Journal Expect to hear lots about this title from popular and prolific romance writer Goudge (Blessing in Disguise, LJ 5/15/94), but don't expect as much from the actual story. In 1972, young Ellie's infant is stolen and privately offered to wealthy Kate and Will as an abandoned baby. Ellie's tragedy is heightened by her inability to conceive again, and her repeated attempts to adopt strain her marriage to Paul. Her daughter, Skyler, is now a lovely young woman, raised among love, money, and horses. She unexpectedly becomes pregnant by Tony, a policeman.

Through a twist of events, she offers her baby to Ellie to adopt, not knowing that Ellie is her own mother and her unborn child's grandmother. Confused yet? Skyler is too stubborn for words,  Brilliance Audio 1-56740-162-7 / 9781567401622
Audio Cassette Program - Boxed As New  Grand Haven, Michigan, U.S.A. 

Price: 15.75 USD