This book is written by Kate McCann and is based upon her ongoing heartbreaking search for her daughter Madeleine. As most people will be aware, in May 2007 a 3 year old girl called Madeleine McCann was on holiday with her parents and siblings when she disappeared one evening around 9pm. They were in Portugal at the time and the Portuguese police did all they could to help search for the little girl but to this day she has never been found.

Kate wrote the book out of desperation as she and her husband urgently needed more funds to support their ongoing appeal to help find Madeleine. The book was extremely difficult for Kate to write as she looks back over the last few years and you genuinely get the sense of emotion coming through as you read the book. At the start of the book she talks about her own childhood and that of her husband Gerry's and covers their initial meeting and consequent years of dating. After their marriage they encountered difficulties in getting pregnant and all 3 of her children were conceived through IVF.

Covering this period of her life the book is very reminiscent of a standard autobiography, but the genre almost turns into one of horror as you get further into the book. She recalls every minute detail of the holiday prior to the disappearance and as family holidays go, this seemed so idyllic. Knowing what was going to come I almost didn't want to get to that part but at the same time I had an almost vulgar desire to read on. After all, there was such controversy around the fact that Kate and Gerry had left their children alone at night to dine out with their friends I was eager to understand the circumstances surrounding this.

The actual disappearance and consequent days of searching are told in graphic detail and as heartbreaking as it is to read, it is also very fascinating. We were spoon fed certain details via the media at the time but to read about it all from her personal perspective gives such a different slant on events that it is hard to put the book down once picked up.

Throughout the book there are pictures of the McCanns and their family, including a mock up picture of what Madeleine would look like if she were alive today. There are also diagrams and maps of the apartment where she was taken from so that you can see where the apartment was in relation to the roads surrounding it and where the restaurant was that all the adults were dining at each night.

Kate has really opened up her heart in the book and been so brave and honest in describing her journey since Madeleine has disappeared. It is a fascinating read but is obviously upsetting also. All of the profit made from the book will go directly to the funds set up to help find Madeleine. This book is a hardback book and is available from Amazon for approximately £12. The paperback version is coming out in May 2012.