Mother Country

Well written, often poignant. Harding chooses details and incidents to evoke an era and a style.

Jeremy Harding was an adopted child who, for a long time, didn't bother investigating the circumstances of his birth. Eventually deciding (for the sake of his own children as much as for his own curiosity) that he ought to at least make an attempt, he set about his task. As he suspected would be the case, there were many twists and turns before the ultimate conclusion. This book traces the story of Jeremy's quest but it seems to double up, at least in part, as Jeremy's autobiography. No doubt there would be other stuff in here if it were a genuine autobiography, but there's a lot of material in here that isn't obviously relevant to the main story. There is much information about the author's childhood, the places he lived and the people he was surrounded by, which provides an insight into London and the home counties as they were back then. Depending on your perspective, you may find this fascinating or frustrating. Fascinating because it is interesting in its own right or frustrating because you're really interested in Jeremy's quest for his natural mother - it's for you to decide. As to the quest itself, that was at times very frustrating for Jeremy. He tried all the obvious archive sources but nearly missed the line that proved successful. Even then, he got lucky. Yes, he eventually identified his birth mother. Was she dead or alive? If alive, was there a reunion and if so, was it a happy one? You can find the answers in this book, which is certainly worth a read.