Emotional review of The Last Gift by Scarlet Black

The Last Gift – Scarlet Black
5 Stars

Let me start off by saying, I know the woman who’s life this book is based on. Yes she is a friend – but this review is no way bias at all. 
I have known Deborah for coming up to two years. I instantly clicked with this woman. We talked and talked, shared similar views and thoughts on things and I had a lot of respect for her. Even though we have never met face to face I was honoured to be able to call Deborah a friend. 

After reading this, I cannot but into words just how much MORE respect I have for her. 

This book was hard for me to read. Not because I had to put it down and come back to it later. Not because it was boring. But because it’s hard to read when your eyes are constantly filling up with tears. I think if I didn’t know this woman, I may have hardened to things and not been as emotionally affected. To read what a friend has been through, especially when things have gone wrong and been filled with such sadness at times, it affects you. 

The other reason it affected me, and the reason my respect has grown even more is because my family have been through something very similar. I know what it’s like to watch someone wither away in front of you. My mum and I nursed my nana for almost 10 years. I was 10 when she became ill and 19 when she passed away. My mum was an only child (adopted) and my sister was too young to help. So it was me and my mum facing everything life threw at us. Still to this day, that’s never changed, it’s me and my mum against the world. 

On top of that, this story talks about adoption. The pain of having to give up a child when times didn’t accept unmarried mothers. It talks of the pain the mothers and sometimes even the fathers face when they have to part with something so precious to them. (on a personal note, this makes me sick and I’m glad and thankful to be born in the modern world).  In the book, the family come back together and it’s beautiful to read. My mum was adopted and spent 50 years of her life thinking she was an only child. She met her birth mother when she was 21 but they never formed a relationship. It was just her and my nana, since my granddad passed away when my mum was nearly two. They were best friends as well as mother and daughter, regardless of whether they were blood related or not. At the age of 50 she found out she had a brother from her adopted fathers side, and then learned she had two half sisters and two half brothers from her biological mothers side. This was very very emotional, but families have been brought back together. All of them are happy to have each other in their lives. So to read this book and it have so may similarities to mine and my mothers life made it even more emotionally hard to read. 

This book is beautifully written, I defy anyone not to be touched by it and I think there is something written in here that people will be able to relate to in one way or another. 

I will also say this. Deborah has always seemed like a strong but passionate woman. That’s how she has always come across to me. After reading this, I now understand why. 

This is a short story and available through Amazon.