Review No 3: The Mistake by Wendy James

I had never heard of this book (or author) until I noticed other reviews of it on the AWW Blog (which again shows that our own homegrown authors don't get nearly enough publicity). Anyway, upon reading them I knew that I just had to read the book and I have to say it was definitely worth the wait at the library. I actually finished it within 3 days, which is unusually fast for me.

First up I noticed the similarity between this book and the Kellie Lane case (of the water polo player who was convicted of murder after claiming she had given up her newborn daughter in an illegal adoption). In saying it is similar, it is only the element of the missing baby that is the same - which of course is a very compelling theme. The rest of the circumstances are very different.

Jodie Garrow had a hellish childhood on the wrong side of the tracks. Fighting her way above her background, she manages to secure a scholarship to a private school and from there manages to educate her way into the middle class. From here she marries well and has all the 'right' things - a solid marriage to a lawyer, two children and a nice home in the 'right' area of the regional community of Arding, NSW. But Jodie also has a secret - two decades ago she gave away a baby in an illegal adoption. Believing it will never come out, Jodie's world comes crashing down when - through a series of unlikely circumstances - the missing baby is reported to the authorities. And then the nightmare begins.