What was mine by Helen Klein Ross

 

Mother. A word. A relationship. A pedestal. What is it? Mothers are, most of the times, always responsible for everything. Everything not so good. Nobody sees the good. Because thats just a given. It has to be good. There are no two ways about it.

'What was mine' is a story that hit so many chords in my heart. I wasn't sure who to support. I didn't want to support anyone. I felt deeply for both. Just because of one small mistake, do mothers stop being mothers? Just because of one small slip, do they stop loving their children or love their children lesser? Can one mistake be forgiven? Is one mistake so capable of changing lives? Do mothers get replaced because of mistakes or misgivings?

Two mothers. Two women who had lost which left their lives shattered and irreparable.
Lucy n her husband had great careers. They had a good life going. But what was not going right or in the direction they wanted was their plans of becoming parents. Many lost pregnancies. Someone had told Lucy to make a baby room in the house and wish it to happen. It would come true. This one piece of advise turned Lucy silently and not so obviously, obsessive. She wanted that baby. She deserved to be a mother. What wrong had she done that her body was just not listening to her? Why is it that others had babies and didn't completely deserve them? These questions plagued Lucy, soon leading to a divorce. Paths parted. Lives moved on. But, Mia set her life straight. Mia's presence gave her everything she ever wanted.

Marilyn had a lot on her plate. She had to keep working very hard to maintain her job. She could not afford to lose it. What with the baby and expenses and all. One day she lost it all. Her job, her mind, her 4-month old baby, Natalie. One afternoon, wanting to finish some shopping at IKEA, Marilyn strapped her little baby girl to the trolley and walked from aisle to aisle. Suddenly, a work call comes in. An urgent call. And she takes it, talking and pacing around. Those few minutes would probably be the moments she would regret all her life. She ends her call and realizes that she has moved further away from the trolley. On locating it, she finds it bereft of her baby. Where the hell could she have gone?! Police investigations, news channel reportings could not bring Natalie back.

Natalie has been taken out of a need to protect. But, who's selfish need? What do you mean taken? You can't take someone else's baby and claim it as taken for safety. It's abduction. It's kidnapping. It's heinous. It's selfish. It's a bad bad thing to do. But, the deed was done. But, what about the 21 years of all that loving, taking care or whatever? Do they mean nothing?

Who took Natalie? Who is Mia? What do these mothers have in common? What have they done so wrong to have lost and gained and lost anyhow? What happens when Mia meets Natalie 21 years later? That's a story for you to find out.

This audiobook has a good narrator. A warm voice. I liked the short chapters. Each chapter narrating from one character in the book. It's a quick read. I would have liked a little more drama in the chapters where Marilyn and Lucy meet, albeit briefly, which is the crux of the story. It made finding answers a little too easy. I would have liked it to be a little difficult. I guess the story was more about the three women - one who lost, one who sort of gained and one who was stuck between the two.