Yesterday's Children (Little, Brown Book Group)

This is the extraordinary story of Jenny Cockell, a young woman from Northamptonshire, who has always known that she has lived before. In her previous life her name was Mary. She was an Irishwoman who died 21 years before Jenny was born leaving several very young children without a mother or a stable, happy home. Yesterday's Children describes the trauma and worry of this continual pastlife memory, and Jenny's decision to search for her lost children. The book follows her progress through her dreams and memories, the revelations of hypnotism, her searches through maps, through local groups in Ireland, and her trip to the village where Mary had lived. Finally, she details her painstaking search for the children (now in their sixties and seventies) who had been split up after Mary's death, and the extraordinary reunions that took place. This is a fascinating book. In many ways it is a real life detective story, as we learn about Jenny, about Mary, her difficult life and finally, with great joy and trepidation, discover what happened to her children.