Forever Yours by Debbie Johnson: heartwarming and moving – book review –

By Bridget Rowan

The reasoning was sound. Gemma was only 16 and in care herself, and the years spent with her bipolar mother had been, to say the least, a car crash.

So she wanted a better life for this child, unplanned, but not unloved. So she gave her away… and with her, sent a letter.

Now, 18 years later, Gemma has her life sorted. She has her flat, half-stakes in a dog, a fulfilling job as a history teacher, an occasional flirtation with the dishy Karim, and she’s a killer at nailing the pub quiz. What more could she want?

But her well-organised life starts to fall apart the day a brilliant new pupil walks into her 
A-level history class. The girl looks a lot like Gemma, her birthday is the same as her daughter’s, and she is adopted...

Faced with some startling realisations, and with the aid of a mixed bag of newfound friends – the first she’s ever made – Gemma starts to consider her past and her future, and becomes aware of just how precariously balanced her life is.

Is it time for action? And if it is, has Gemma got what it takes?

A new Debbie Johnson is always a delight, but the Liverpool-based author really delivers the goods in her latest novel.

By turn heartwarming and moving, and always beautifully written, this spellbinding tale takes the reader on a high-octane rollercoaster ride through the emotions.

Forever Yours is a heartrending tale of love, loss and – possibly – redemption. Debbie, as ever, laces her novel with big dollops of humour, leaving the reader unsure whether to laugh or cry… or simply settle for both.

(Orion, hardback, £7.99)