Describes the authors life as an adopted boy in London and on the River Thames, explaining how, as he searched for the birth mother he had never known, he discovered how little he actually knew about his adopted mother. The author describes his life growing up as an adopted boy in London and on a decrepit houseboat on the River Thames and explains how, as he searched for the birth mother he had never known, he discovered how little he actually knew about his adoptive mother. By the author of Small Wars, Small Mercies. Original. A revelatory true story about adoption, secrets and theneed to belong. When Jeremy Harding was a child, his mother, Maureen, told him he wasadopted. She described his natural parents as a Scandinavian sailor and a“little Irish girl” who worked in a grocery. It was only later, as Harding setout to look for traces of his birth mother, that he began to understand whohis adoptive mother really was—and the benign make-believe world shebuilt for herself and her little boy. Evoking a magical childhood spent intransit between west London and a decrepit houseboat on the banks of theRiver Thames, Mother Country is both a detective quest, as Harding searchesthrough the public records for clues about his natural mother, and a richsocial history of a lost London from the 1950s. Mother Country is a powerfultrue story about a man looking for the mother he had never known andfinding out how little he understood the one he had grown up with. When Jeremy Harding was a child, his mother, Maureen, told him he was adopted. She described his natural parents as a Scandinavian sailor and a “little Irish girl” who worked in a grocery. It was only later, as Harding set out to look for traces of his birth mother, that he began to understand who his adoptive mother really was—and the benign make-believe world she built for herself and her little boy. Evoking a magical childhood spent in transit between west London and a decrepit houseboat on the banks of the River Thames, Mother Country is both a detective quest, as Harding searches through the public records for clues about his natural mother, and a rich social history of a lost London from the 1950s. Mother Country is a powerful true story about a man looking for the mother he had never known and finding out how little he understood the one he had grown up with.
