A family separated in childhood and reunited in old age

In 1932 a young woman who was already the mother of several children gave birth to triplets. She died on the day of their birth and their father was unable to care for the whole family. The three babies were placed in an orphanage and eventually adopted into separate families with no knowledge of each other or their birth family. In Relative Strangers their story is told by the journalist Hunter Davies (see my review of his autobiography here) including their emotional reunion in June 2001 – the first time that they had been together since they were adopted.

The author tells the story of the changes in adoption law and practice during the twentieth century by following the individual stories of the triplets and the families into which they were adopted. He also delves into social history and the care of children during this period by looking at the triplets’ birth family and what happened to those children who were not adopted.

This is an absolutely fascinating book and it shows us how attitudes to adoption and to the care of children has changed over the years. The author has a real sympathy for the situation and is non-judgemental when describing the decisions that people made – they certainly meant well but they are not necessarily the decisions which we would make today. This is a book for anyone with an interest in adoption or family issues but also for those of us who enjoy reading about families. The reunion of the triplets is very moving but none of the children in the whole family had an ideal life.

If the subject matter of this book interests you I would also recommend Nobody’s Child by Kate Adie which is about what has happened over the ages to children who have been unwanted (the author is adopted) or The Cruel Mother by Sian Busby which is about the author’s family history and the murder of twins by an ancestor with post-partum psychosis (despite the subject matter it’s an interesting read).