Love Forms

In the heart-aching new novel from the author of the award-winning Golden Child, a mother searches for the daughter she left behind a lifetime ago.

Trinidad, 1980: Dawn Bishop, aged 16, leaves her home and journeys across the sea to Venezuela. There, she gives birth to a baby girl, and leaves her with nuns to be given up for adoption.

Dawn tries to carry on with her life - a move to England, a marriage, a career, two sons, a divorce - but through it all, she still thinks of the child she had in Venezuela, and of what might have been.

Then, forty years later, a woman from an internet forum gets in touch. She says that she might be Dawn's long-lost daughter, stirring up a complicated mix of feelings: could this be the person to give form to all the love and care a mother has left to give?

'Exquisitely written. A compelling and tender story of what-and who-is hidden in almost every family that feels as old as the hills and yet acutely contemporary.' Monique Roffey

'A story in which love and pain co-exist, connect, even merge. From the first page to the last, we touch a real human being living a real human life.' Joanna Glen

'A compelling read taking us to the heart of difficult family situations and evocative secret places.' Romesh Gunesekera

'An arresting voice that made me think of silk: its delicate beauty belies its intrinsic strength.' Claire Kilroy

'A devastating story about family secrets, and what it truly means to be a mother. Intimate, poignant, and beautifully written, this unforgettable novel will stay with me for a long time.' - Amanda Smyth

‘From the very first page, I knew I was in the hands of a master storyteller, as Dawn’s bitterly circumscribed life unfurled into an utterly arresting tale of love and grief, of the wounding and healing powers of family, of the many guises of a mother’s love. It’s an absolute triumph.’ -Sara Collins

'A moving story of a mother’s love and longing . . . Love Forms pulls you deep into the landscape of memories and emotions as a mother searches for the daughter she gave up for adoption. Claire Adam’s prose is lit from within.' Charmaine Wilkerson, author of Black Cake and Good Dirt