Mother of Ten (Whisper My Secret #2) by JB Rowley

Mother of Ten (Whisper My Secret #2) Reviews

• 
  Brenda

  This book is the follow up to the memoir
  Whisper My Secret. June (the author) is one of seven siblings to Mum Myrtle and Dad George; they all lived in relative poverty in the Australian bush, but had a happy life, with all the usual mischief that kids get up to, with the working father and stay-at-home mother. The children grew up amongst lots of love and closeness from friends as well as their family, their playground the bush surrounding their property, walking to school each day, and visiting their Nan and Pop each Sunday for the midday meal.
  
  Once Myrtle passed away, and papers were found detailing the births of three other children to her and first husband Henry, June set out to trace these half-siblings Bertie, Audrey and Noel that she didn’t know they had. The information throughout the book details the early parts of their lives, and what happened through their childhood into adulthood, the bitterness and heartbreak they suffered…
  
  Myrtle was a loving and extremely courageous woman, who, even though her heart must have been broken, cared and loved her new family throughout her life. The story of this family and their lives is beautifully told, heartrendingly sad, but totally inspirational.
  
  A wonderful read.
  
• 
  Carol Arnold

  A sad story...
  
  I started this book because I am trying to read more biographies. This book, however, was somewhat of a disappointment. It was more of a story of the abusive conditions in the orphanage system in Australia and the tragic ways children were forcefully removed from their mothers. It was told through the eyes of a young girl whose mother kept the tragic secret of the forceful loss of her first three children. No one knew of them until after her death. I am sure that telling the story was healing for the author and will be a treasured story for all descendants.
• 
  Jackie

  I *really* enjoyed the first book (even though it was not a true biography) but this one lacked alot... I understand that there was not a lot of first hand experience to go on, but I felt like much of this book was just a historical overview of what was going on in that time period, as well as accounts of other women and children who went through similar separations:/
• 
  Judie

  Immediately after finishing WHISPER MY SECRET, I bought the sequel MOTHER OF TEN. I wanted to know more about Myrtle, an Australian woman and her family, especially what happened to her first three children, the ones who were taken from her custody by her uncaring ex-husband and his controlling and meanspirited mother and placed in government childcare facilities. We also learn about the lives of the members of her second family whom June, the narrator, discovered and sought out after her mother’s death. .
  The book was an honest look of the life of a hardworking caring family of little means in Australia starting in the 1940s. We hear about the respectful actions of caring members of the community when her father becomes ill allowing the family to maintain its dignity.
  One of the funniest sections is when June’s grandmother, Nan, teaches her how to make scones. “Making scones is a skill not many people learn. I’ll teach you how to do it. First you need a good recipe. Get me that recipe book in the top drawer.” With June reading the directions, Nan makes the scones, ignoring almost everything the book says.
  The two youngest ones grew up in orphanages and received no visitors or love. They had been separated from each other and for a very long time did not know they had siblings. All three had also been told lies about their mother so that they would think she was a terrible woman who abandoned them freely. The story of children raised in that situation is explored honestly. Speaking about sharing family stories, histories, and pictures, Rowley writes “Institutional children are deprived of these precious pieces of the childhood jigsaw that most of us assume as our right.” They lack personal belongings or privacy and were subject to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.
  She also writes of why mothers in these situations may not want to regain contact with their children later on and presents logical explanations.
  At the end we learn briefly of what has happened to the members today.
  MOTHER OF TEN is well written, honest, and down-to-earth though it is a bit choppy in places. Rowley includes some updated information about WHISPER MY SECRET.
  One of the delights of this book was learning about the lyre bird, an Australian bird whose tail explains its name and mimics all types of sounds. I went on line and was delighted with what I discovered. Go to
  http://postcelebrity.com/link/46386 and other sites listed on Google to hear some of them.
• 
  June Wells

  Similarities
  
  As I read this book I could not help but compare it to the stories from here in the U.S. Our history also contains wretched tales of injustices heaped upon the helpless. The boys home in Florida where unclaimed bodies of children have recently been unearthed. The Lynchburg Training School in Virginia where the intellectually disabled were sterilized against their will. Just to name a few. Let's not mention indigenous people across the planet who have had their children stolen and Anglicized by those who "know best." Makes one wonder at the definition of civilized.
• 
  Paula

  This was the sequel to "Whisper My Secret". It goes on with Myrtle's life after she goes to Orbost with George and has seven children.
  
  I enjoyed this sequel as much as the first book. It is such a sad story of a mother separated from her first 3 children and the rest of the family not knowing about them until after Myrtle's death. JB Rowley does a good job of researching the best she could to find out all she could about her half siblings and their lives before she knew of them. It is a good read and brings to light some interesting facts about children's life in orphanages and the mother's who had to give them up.
• 
  Darlene

  Good book that was a sequel to Mother of Ten. This was written by the daughter of the author after her mother's death. She discovered that her mother had had a prior marriage and a family she had been forced to leave behind. She researched well and put together information to fill the gaps best she could. It is hard to imagine being caught in this saga the mother endured and lived on building a new life. The fact that the children had the opportunity to meet and find out the first 3 were not abandoned was very satisfying.
• 
  Mary Standard

  What a unusual story, both sad and hopeful. I read hardly able to put it down so that I could see what happened next.
• 
  Tony Parsons

  Victoria, Australia. Orbost (township). June “Brigid” (sister, narrator) had stabbed Maxie (8, younger brother) with a pencil that had went clear through. Bobby (brother) was sent to get help.
  The story continues.
  
  As a retired MH crisis/school social worker, & a child, & a former foster care teen, this story touched my heart again.
  
  A very funny thing; I still have # 2 pencil lead in my left hand & left leg thigh from being stabbed in grade school (late 1950’s) by 2 other students.
  
  I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. Only an honest one.
  
  A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. Wow, a very well written down-under memoir
  book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a large set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great down-under family memoir movie, or better yet a mini TV series. There is no doubt in my mind this is a very easy rating of 5 stars.
  
  Thank you for the free Proto Press; Ebooksdaily; Amazon Digital Services LLC; book
  Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)
  
• 
  Yolanda

  What I loved about this book was the family history. Every person needs and should have the blessing of family connection; my heart aches for the members of this family who suffered great social injustices that robbed them of family connection. I rejoice that some were able to rise above this and reclaim their family.
  
  What I did not like about this book was the author's description of the sexual molestation that she experienced when she was a young innocent child, at the hands of a family acquaintance, the father of aboriginal children with whom she played. I am sorry that she experienced this but wish she had left it out. The biographical story line would not have suffered by leaving it out, and it was not enhanced by including it. Because this was included, I cannot recommend this book for children and feel that I must alert teen and adult readers that this content is included.
  
  I have read only two of Ms. Rowley's books, and both include very descriptive sexual encounters. I hope this gifted writer can someday understand that sexual content is not necessary for literature to be great.
  
  
• 
  Laurean Wilson Reynolds

  Answers the queries of book #1
  
  After reading the very brief teaser, Whisper My Secret, I had many questions about the mother's family problems and the loss of her children. The first book and this sequel could have been one very good book. Non fiction with fiction thrown in to fill gaps is a description of the genre, a memoir with fictional passages is another. Quick read. Interesting that people's lives get so chaotic and lost through circumstances, deceit, bad choices. My heart broke for the three children virtually abandoned by the deadbeat father and his evil mother. Despicable to force such horror on them when they had a living mother and father, grandmothers, and many relatives to care for them. Where were the churchworkers, authorities, social workers, psychologists? Thankfully these children survived.
• 
  Patricia Camilleri

  Started reading this book but had to put it down. eventually forced my way though it. . .
  The first half is about the author, her life, experience with her family and of course her mother. There's much speculation on her part, throughout the whole book, about how her mother felt and offers up many examples from other people faced with similar circumstances. There isn't as much information about her 3 half siblings lives as there is about her own. Branching off from their short life stories the book take a turn into the atrocities of the orphanages of that time. Really feel like the focus of this book was all over the place and offers very little insight to how her mother really felt about her life and ALL her children. We get a look from one perspective that's really more of a side glace.
• 
  Roberta Emanuel

  Making sense of me and my place in the world
  
  As the second born child to a women who was taken into care just after WWII had started mum would often recount her childhood stories. At times her stories reflected the mischief her and her adopted siblings (other 'inmates') would get up to just to avenge the nuns, whose authority was often brutal, who cared for them. Mum and her sister could be found recounting less happy times if you were quiet enough and seemingly not interested in their indulgences.
  
  This book/s helped to make sense of the way mum perhaps embellished the truth and at times failed to share some of the most painful moments as we grew up. It wasn't until their later years that I became privvy to the pain they shared - which is described so clearly in these books by weaving history together with actual events.
  
  I have a greater understanding of how I became the person I am today through the painful loneliness my mother had endured as a child.
  
  The story is written in such a way that it's easy to follow, and is a brutally honest reflection of growing up in post war Australia. Thank you JB for sharing your story.
• 
  Wendy

  Wow...
  
  What a great finale to "Whisper My Secret"!! It's heartbreaking to think that it was once so easy to destroy families but it's good to see that these folks are able to somehow come around from it...even if, for Myrtle, it was only with a "false self." I can't imagine how someone survives that situation as either the parent or the child and yet so many did. Thank you for sharing the story with us.
• 
  Ana

  It was alright.
  
  I really enjoyed reading about what happened to the children that were taken. However, I felt that it was all over the place and the author used a lot of imagination and suppositions which i did not care about. I like facts and not having words or thoughts made up on other's behalf.
• 
  Rita Brooks-Czbas

  A disappointing disorganized saga in which the author leaves the reader to structure the story rather helplessly. Very different from her first book. I did not finish it because it was work to read rather than a pleasurable experience.
• 
  Jenna

  The story was interesting. Myrtle was very resilient. Too much detail about sexual encounters... probably four or five different times in the book... unnecessary detail for the story.
• 
  Jane Thompson

  Orphanage children
  
  This book is an follow-up to to the author's first book. She spends a great deal of effort explaining how children brought up in an institution may react.
• 
  Lori Allison

  Good book, different
  
  I did not know the book was a memoir. I was interested because my dear Mom had a secret as well.