What Was Mine

A Novel

By: Helen Klein Ross

Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Cassandra Campbell, Amanda Carlin, Rebekkah Ross, Jonathan Todd Ross

Simply told but deeply affecting, in the best-selling tradition of Alice McDermott and Tom Perrotta, this urgent novel unravels the heartrending yet unsentimental tale of a woman who kidnaps a baby in a superstore - and gets away with it for 21 years.

Lucy Wakefield is a seemingly ordinary woman who does something extraordinary in a desperate moment: She takes a baby girl from a shopping cart and raises her as her own. It's a secret she manages to keep for over two decades - from her daughter, the babysitter who helped raise her, family, coworkers, and friends.

When Lucy's now-grown daughter, Mia, discovers the devastating truth of her origins, she is overwhelmed by confusion and anger and determines not to speak again to the mother who raised her. She reaches out to her birth mother for a tearful reunion, and Lucy is forced to flee to China to avoid prosecution. What follows is a ripple effect that alters the lives of many and challenges our understanding of the very meaning of motherhood.

Author Helen Klein Ross, whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, weaves a powerful story of upheaval and resilience told from the alternating perspectives of Lucy, Mia, Mia's birth mother, and others intimately involved in the kidnapping. What Was Mine is a compelling tale of motherhood and loss, of grief and hope, and of the life-shattering effects of a single irrevocable moment.

©2016 Helen Klein Ross (P)2016 Simon & Schuster

Really great story well performed!

Where does What Was Mine rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

A goodie!

What did you like best about this story?

A well crafted story that was performed very well.

Any additional comments?

A really great "read".

Who what when where

Sorry but this was just too convoluted .
Interesting concept and characters, but so much jumping from one character to another,one place to another,etc.
Maybe it was just me, but I kept getting lost.

Compelling, refreshing point of view

This book is not a thriller, it's a psycho-drama, exploring "why" something happened, not the who or how. I like that the story is told from a very different POV than most abduction stories.This book kept me listening through the end without skipping ahead. This is unusual for many books I've read or listened to lately. There were a couple of plot devices that were a bit far-fetched, but as they did not disturb the "psychology" of the moment, it was forgivable. Good job, and a recommended read.

This Story Sickens and Intrigues...

What did you like best about What Was Mine? What did you like least?

I guess if an author has the ability to provoke such feelings of hate and anger towards a fictional character, then they’ve written a good book. Lucy made me angrier than I’ve been in quite some time! She was arrogant, selfish, self-absorbed, cruel, psychotic, revolting, ridiculous, ludicrous, dramatic, (can I say dramatic twice?) and well, downright idiotic at times. I found myself wanting to strangle a fictional character!She had such a ridiculous thought process…she thought she could breast feed a baby even though she’d not given birth, not even been pregnant! When the story broke in the media, she was appalled when she wasn’t praised at how well she’d raised the child she kidnapped! She felt that “expensive schools, private tutors, bedtime stories, a full time nanny, trips to the beach, trips to Disney” would surely make up for the fact that she’d kidnapped a four month old! Because of her actions, the lives of so many were altered/ruined. It’s like she did NOT get the fact that what she did was beyond wrong!

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Seeing how what Lucy did and the affect it had on everyone was the most AND least interesting aspect of this book.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Not sure, maybe my increased loathing of Lucy. Unlike other reviewers, I NEVER felt sorry for her. She ruined the lives of too many people.

Do you think What Was Mine needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I do think it needs a follow-up! The way nothing was resolved was infuriating!

Any additional comments?

I know from the reviews, that people saw Marilyn, the birth mother as annoying. I got irritated with her at times, but then I’d stop and think about what all she’d been through and how that would forever alter a person and their personality. I felt for her, her heart was broken, her daughter stolen, and she bared the burden for that. The fact that she was able to put one foot in front of another and get through each day was amazing.The fact that her marriage failed was not surprising. What WAS surprising was the reaction of the birth father when he'd found out his daughter had been found.

One Moment of Poor Judgement Can Change Your Life

Helen Klein Ross presents us with a remarkable narrative of fantastic readers who make the gripping story of a baby who has been kidnapped come true to life.

When a busy working mom takes the day off to care for her sick child, she drives by the IKEA store because she has to pick up a few things. She places her baby in the cart and proceeds to do some shopping. However, while in the store her boss calls her and she feels the obligation to answer the phone.. and she looked away for one moment.. And- her baby was no longer there.

While the baby is alone in the cart, a woman finds her and thinks that it's just such a shame for a mother to leave such a beautiful creature alone. She thinks she has to do the right thing, which is of course pick up the baby and take her out of the store. It doesn't help matters that the woman is freshly divorced due to her lack of infertility and obsession with having a baby.

The situation spirals, but for years, the baby has no idea that she was snatched from a store and raised as another woman's daughter... until one day, she does..

This book is told in several different voices which makes the narrative rich and the story very suspenseful. We find that there are no real enemies in the book- just people who do something that perhaps we've all done or wanted to do at some point- even if we'd never act on it. The author does a great job of drawing empathy from her audience.

This book is a solid listen. I'd give it a definite 4 of 5 stars across the board.

-Wendi

riveting and heartbreaking

this was so well written and spoken, i felt the loss, the struggles, the anxiety , everything. what a story. i just wish for more on the ending. but highy recommend.

What? I wanted an ending!

I loved this book. Could not stop listening. But I was so surprised when it just. Ended.

Horrible Ending

Loved the story throughout up until the last chapter. That's how it all ends?! Frustrating.

Gripping

I listened as a book club selection. My club-mates who read the print couldn't put the book down. The cast of narrators will leave you circling the block to keep listening to the audio. Cassandra Campbell is one of my favorite audiobook narrators and is accompanied by an amazing cast. Highly recommend!

wow

I thought I was going to fall into an emotional Darkness reading this book, but it was just the opposite. It gave me a different perspective on relationships and just how far a person will go to get the things their heart truly desires. I am still torn on something, but the book ends ok.