The Brother From Another Mother

When his eyes met mine that first time, I felt goosebumps, my heart raced and just for a second, love and fear clashed violently. Briefly, it flashed through my mind, and I knew with all certainty this child will not make old bones. For a moment time stood still. It was like someone had walked over my grave and I shivered…

This was the day when the author first met the four month old baby who was to consume the rest of her life. Dropped on her doorstep by Social Welfare, this little bundle of joy became the love of her life but also caused her the deepest, most profound heartbreak. Jamie, as he was later called, led the double-edged life that many adopted children lead - blessed with a loving family who actually chose him, but haunted by his past and later cursed by acquaintances that he himself chose to follow.

The Brother From Another Mother is three stories in one. It tells the heart rending true story of a young man whose sense of loss and confusion ultimately lead to his murder in 2008. It also tells the story of a mother who spends the rest of her life trying to find the truth behind her son’s death. What actually led him to die? Who really killed him? Was there a cover up? And thirdly, it tells of a family’s struggle to find understanding, peace and forgiveness.

‘The Brother From Another Mother is essential reading for anyone who wants to witness ‘normal’ New Zealand society with all its prejudices and privilege, the hidden under-belly of that section of ‘have nots’ who did things their own way, and the government systems that fail miserably to bridge the gap.’ (Editor)