What a terribly sad tale. Birthrights looks at one woman’s sad, troubled life and all the anguish she has suffered after a childhood trauma. This book is a harsh read that leaves you wondering about the secrets people carry and how easy it is to keep people at arm’s length.

Carly Rheilan tells a deeply moving story that leaves you heartbroken and sad. She digs into the effects of childhood trauma and its effects in adulthood. She highlights how easy it is for adults to keeps to themselves and hides the reality of their lives from those around them. I was engrossed in this story from start to finish.

Renowned Psychiatrist Anna Griffen is stirring things up in her profession, her colleagues do not all agree with her ideas and some are eager to get her out of the limelight. After giving one of her talks she leaves the auditorium and is attacked by one of her patients, while another looks on unable to intervene. Anne who is eight-month pregnant is stabbed in the stomach, but there is no blood – and she disappears.

Anna has a secret, she has worked out a plan to get the one thing she has always wanted. Now so close to realising her dreams, everything could fall apart. Determined to see her baby safely brought into the world Anna will do whatever is necessary.

This harsh read tells an extremely sad story of a troubled woman who long to have a child. A need driven by the loss of her baby brother. It was emotionally moving and sad. Anna’s lonely existence and her troubling thoughts and actions will remain with me for a  long time.

This book is filled with damaged people. Not just the patients with mental problems but the hospital staff and their self-centred motivations. There are some shameful acts in this book and very few of the characters appeared to be exceptionally pleasant. Everyone was concerned with their own agenda’s providing Anna with the perfect opportunity to execute her plan. I found myself wondering if someone took the time to get to know Anna if perhaps her life would have been different. Anna crawls into your heart as you experience her bad decisions and her troubling past is revealed.

This book was a fantastic read and I have no problem saying that I loved it. It’s a book that leaves you looking at the people in your own world and wonder what secrets and burdens they carry.

This book falls into psychological fiction as well as thriller genres and will see enthusiasts of both genres reading into the early hours of the night. This sad story leaves you feeling that you have been allowed to peak into the mind of a troubled, damaged woman. The author did a marvelous job with this novel and you can expect to be shocked, moved and left feeling sad when you reach for this title.