I Came to Say Goodbye | Caroline Overington

Reviewed 8 April 2022

Official Synopsis:

It was four o'clock in the morning. A young woman pushed through the hospital doors. Staff would later say they thought the woman was a new mother, returning to her child - and in a way, she was.

She walked into the nursery, where a baby girl lay sleeping. The infant didn't wake when the woman placed her gently in the shopping bag she had brought with her. There is CCTV footage of what happened next, and most Australians would have seen it, either on the internet or the news.

The woman walked out to the car park, towards an old Corolla. For a moment, she held the child gently against her breast and, with her eyes closed, she smelled her. She then clipped the infant into the car, got in and drove off.

That is where the footage ends. It isn't where the story ends, however. It's not even where the story starts.

HER Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is written in such a unique way with the story being split between Med and Kate’s “letter” so the language really adds a unique but compelling element to the story. The way the past unravels in their own words launches you into the traumatic culminating situation the Atleys find themselves in and it is completely heartbreaking.

That being said I don’t think this style of writing or the confronting issues faced are necessarily everyone’s cup of tea and I have seen mixed reviews. Ultimately though I found this a greatly depicted atmospheric read narrated by a character who doesn’t often get their own voice in this style of novel.

HIS Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Best book I’ve read this year, thoroughly amazing, heart wrenching and completely believable I had to check if it was a true story! Loved it 📚

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