Incredible book. Stunning story and narrated magnificently. It will be one of the 17 best hours you have ever spent. Rich in detail, sadly utterly believable and with a welcome conclusion....you will gush to your friends that they must give it a listen. It will remind some of "Before we were Yours".

Very good, but sad store , excellent narration.

I loved it from beginning to end! Great narrator that really pulled me in to the story! I couldn’t stop listening!

The book was good, but a bit depressing. Probably a little longer than it needed to be, but still a good read. The narrator was awesome. She did bring the book to life.

A sad story but I really enjoyed it. The narrator was perfect and made the book so real.

Great read!

Wow. Amazing book. I am a 46 year old man and was in tears thinking of the realities discussed and faced in this book. So we’ll done. I could not stop listening.

Amazing book probably one of the best I have listened to and the narrator was excellent

Great story. Fantastic narrator. She even did the children’s voices well, which is not typical. This is a great listen

I was captivated by this sad story!

an amazing period peice that I easily got emotionally invested in. caution, sensitive subject matter that seemed to just get worse and worse as the story progresses. unexpected ending.

Compelling story that I couldn’t put down.

Narrator brilliant. Book also.

I loved this book, I could not stop listening. The narrator was one of the best I have ever listened to.

Great story. Great narration. A few topics that could be triggering to people.

Heartbreaking. A lot of unexpected twists. Very good book and excellent author.

This is a fantastic read/listen. I loved how the narrator pulled it all together to keep the listener captivated. I truly didn't want to put it down.

I really enjoyed listening to the book, it’s well written!

What a wonderfully written novel about a very difficult and tragic story. The author does a fantastic job creating the characters with all the qualities, both good and bad, that make us human. Well worth your time even if it isn't always an uplifting tale. The narrator for the story couldn't have been any better!

This book was great and the narrator was excellent.

Couldn’t stop listening! Fantastic narration!

I loved this book. It is not normally one I would have chosen, but glad I did. I loved the characters. The narrator was excellent.

Great listen and I’m please it had some good endings..

I couldn’t put it down.

I did not want it to end. The twists in the story were so well woven together. I so enjoyed her writing style. Her use of history woven into a compelling story line kept my attention until the very end! Looking forward to her other books.

I loved this story, beginning to end! I cried like a baby at the end...I love when I'm sad the story is over but I'm not ready to say goodbye to them yet.

Loved listening to this book!

Such an incredible story the detail was amazing and the narrator was excellent. This has to be one of the best books I’ve read in a few years. You will not regret reading this story. This deserved both narrator and author, five stars.

A heartbreaking story. The author did an excellent job in developing the flawed character of humanity.

Very good book and awfully sad. I had to stop at times and pick back up again because it saddened me so much (I’m too sensitive maybe). The narrator is excellent and truly brought the book to life. Highly recommend.

what a wonderful and sad story

engaging story with interesting twists

Great story!! Keeps you in suspense!

A story that was heart breaking but amazing . Had me from the first page.

I loved this book! It was one I got as a VIP reward so I wasn’t sure, but it was fabulous. The narrator was great and I was engaged with the woven stories of all the characters and couldn’t wait to hear more. Certainly a sad story, but with some many true elements. Hard to understand the indifference to children. Well written. Highly recommended!

Truly the best narration ever! A real tear jerker.

Enjoyed absolutely everything about this book, completely captivating story and brilliant narration. Highly recommend - just make sure you have enough time to listen to it, once you start you wont want to stop.

Narrator was excellent - book content was good.

Great book. Narrator is excellent. Sad premise but very engaging.

A really enjoyable read. Uncomfortable at points, but a story that sadly we know has happened to children in care homes. Well written & gripping

What a wonderfully written story!! My goodness…I always expect to be entertained when I read a book and quite often, the entertainment ends up rather sub par. It’s hard to expect to be entertained in a story with such a heartbreaking subject but boy oh boy, I was riveted! This was definitely a book that couldn’t be put down. Written so beautifully and with the exact amount of anticipation to make the reader clamor to find out what happens next to theses precious girls. I don’t give five stars easily but I couldn’t rate this any less. Loved it!! And let’s not forget an incredible narration. So, so good!!

great book loved it not an easy story but great!

I loved this book. It made me cry more than once and I so hoped for a happy ending. Great narration too.

Loved this book, and the narrator is fantastic!

Well written! Good narrative..the story So sad but real.And a lovely ending! Just like life,there are evil people and there are beautiful people! My first book by Costeloe..inspired me to look for more of her books!

wow such a sad but beautifully narrated story. I felt every character.. I cried I laughed but overall was very moved. compulsive...

I so enjoyed this story spanning the years. The characters were great. Such a sad time in our history. Would recommend it!

Good read. Very sad period of history. Bitter sweet ending

Really a well written historical novel. One of the books that I did not want to see come to an end.

This is such a sad story but so beautifully written and narrated.

A very good book. Randomly came upon his one, narration is great kept be very interested. The story is very well something i’m sure happened a lot in those times.

Great story, I was in tears a lot, very sad. A little drawn out in some parts, just wanted to know what happened without as much detail that was already mentioned. Narrator was brilliant, so many voices all done so well.

This book does not begin to be a feel-good read. However, it was captivating and worth every minute of listening. The narrator has terrific inflection, diction and emotion. I won’t soon forget the story.

Really well written and evolving story. Very tragic . Excellently narrated.

I haven’t enjoyed a book like this in a very long time. I finished it

Great story telling and character development. I got so involved with what will happen next to the children and their family has to make time to listen as much as possible. Anne Dover does an excellent job at narration, at one point I had to double check that two or more people weren't reading it, she's great at voice characterization.

Soooo good. Terribly sad, but soooo, good. I highly recommend listening ☺️

Excellent story…sad, but realistic and enjoyable read. So much detail and great character development. I loved this book. This is actually my favorite book so far this year

What a beautifully sad story this was. I cried and cried and cried. Amazing narration, too.

Excellent!!

Compelling story of sadness and struggle against all odds by two sisters abandoned by their mother. Although fictional, the author creates a believable story in post-WW2 that tugs at your heart strings.

Loved the narrator. Very captivating story with twists I did not expect.

This book is wonderful!!! I would love to see it in a movie or tv series. The narrator is amazing

Such a poignant story, well written and beautifully told.

Excellent book the story us great sad at times. Narration is great.

Excellent story. Definitely worth a read.

Such a tragic story - tugs on your heartstrings more than once but could not stop listening anxious to know how it ends. Great writing and great narration.

Fantastic book and great narrator, I just couldn't stop listening, I did feel the ending was somewhat abrupt as I would liked to have heard more, I can't say why or I'd give away the ending

As you can imagine, this is a heart wrenching story. I could not stop listening, I was completely transported. I cried. I laughed, this is a hell of a book. The narration is absolutely fantastic, she really brings this story alive. A truly wonderful author.

Narrator is so good

Loved the book! The story was wonderful and narrated very well.

Fabulous narration that really brought the book and the story to life

This is a very wholesome book, it has me tearing up a couple of times. I almos never get emotional with audiobooks, but this story is really beautiful. All the characters are very well written and endearing.

The book was wonderful!

Tugs at your heart. The narrator was great!

This was one of the best books I've listened to! Even though it was quite sad at times, it was a book that was hard to quit listening to. The narrator was fantastic and the hours flew by. Highly recommend!

Good story and book. Great narrator.

Absolutely the best book I’ve read in a long time. I loved how developed all the characters were. I truly didn’t want it to end.

Great story and even better narrating. Highly recommend. Make sure you have tissues handy though.

Beautiful sad story

I really enjoyed this. Narrator really brought the story to life.

Excellent book. Heartbreaking, yet it's a story of resilience and tenacity. Long book, but worth it. Sometimes I felt like I knew what would happen, then I was wrong. Great suspense. Narratorbwas wonderful and her accent was perfect for the story.

Can so many things go wrong and so many people be so evil and simplistic ? All of them cold hearted and cruel in these poor girls' lives. As if the writer enjoyed the cruelty she inflicted on her characters. No happy endings for 99% of the people in the book? The narrator was good but I found the book tragic and it never explained some of the choices or reasons for some of the main characters' motivations and reasons for being so heartless and cruel...

Good but very sad story

Excellent book, very emotional and I couldn’t stop listening to it. The narrator is great too.

Loved this book a real rollercoaster of emotions

What a well written story, The best read I have had in a long time.

Great book! But the narration was first class, best that I’ve experienced from audiobook.com so far!

A beautiful, often heartbreaking, story excellently written. Phenomenal narrator.

This book deserves the Hollywood’s attention if not received already

Excellent book and excellent reader. Compelling story but so sad at times.

I really enjoyed this book. A few times it felt like the author was going into too much detail, although the details did help me appreciate the day to day lives of the characters. I thoroughly recommend it!

Narrator was wonderful.

Sad but very interesting.

This book was fantastic. I cried at the end. The narrator was incredible and really held the readers interest. I wondered if it was auto-biographical

This is an excellent book, brilliantly written and the narrator was excellent also, I’ve enjoyed many books from audible but this book is one that had a lasting effect on me, at times hard to listen to but wow what a book. At nearly 18 hours long the book soon got to the end. Incredible story and a rollercoaster listen. I would urge any one to listen to this book. I cannot rate this book high enough. Absolutely stunning book.

Wondering story telling. Within the joys are many heartbreaking parts but it’s heard to put down or turn off. Only turn offs were how abruptly the ending was and how mid way the audio skipped (but that could have been due to cell service).

The narrator was top notch and made the story even better. It was a great book, very engaging, really got you invested in the characters.

The narrator was good and kept the story interesting. This story was sad, sad, sad and endearing simultaneously. I cried like four times!! lots of hardship but I know many children have gone through systems to only die and live with memories of the trauma they experience. Some children even persevere like the Rita did in the story. The last 10 Chapters were the most interesting because you wanted to know what was going to happen. So like America... happy ending.

Sad but good story. Awesome narrator. She really brought the story to life. I enjoyed every minute of this book!

WoW! I finished it in 3 days!

Not usually my kind of book at all, however, I loved it. It was so well written that even though there is a happy(ish) ending I still was in this sad mood for a day or 2 after. The narrator was great.

Heartbreakingly beautiful.

Heartbreaking but wonderful book!

I love the book I never cried so much like I did with this book