I was given this book as a birthday present and had not read a Penny Vincenzi book before, so I wasn't sure what to expect before I began reading it. I am an avid reader of chick-lit books, which this was clearly not so it is a bit of a departure from my usual reading material. The book is a pretty thick paperbook, which some people may find a bit off-putting when they first pick it up.

The book follows the lives of three women: Martha, Cleo and Jocasta. They first met while travelling in 1985, but all three women now lead very different lives. Martha is an ambitious and highly successful lawyer; Clio is a doctor trapped in an unhappy marriage, and Jocasta is a newspaper reporter whose lover won't commit. One year after they first met, one of them secretly gave birth to a baby girl (Kate) at Heathrow Airport and left her in the toilets. Fast forward to 2000, and Kate is desperate to find out more about her birth mother. Which of the women is really her mother, and what will happen if the secret is revealed?

Although this was a thick book and took several weeks for me to get to the end of, it was a gripping read. There are plenty of red herrings thrown into the story that leave you thinking that you have figured out the secret and the outcome, only for you to be thrown several pages later when the next clue reveals that you were actually wrong in your suspicions. The book's outcome is left quite up in the air until the last few pages, which maintains your interest and curiousity. At times, it is sad and emotional.

Having read this book, I am hugely impressed at how well Penny Vincenzi's writing style kept me riveted right to the end. I have made a mental note to seek out more of her books as I really enjoyed this book.