Eales J. Secrets, Spies and Spotted Dogs

Australia: Middle Harbour Press, Ltd., 2014. — 292 p.A simple need for her birth certificate leads Jane, aged 19, to a secret: she was adopted. Stunned, Jane is sworn to secrecy and forbidden to search for her biological family – a promise she honours until her adoptive parents die. A heart-wrenching family crisis and a longing to know her origins leads Jane into a life-changing quest to research her roots in Rhodesia, Johannesburg, London, Berlin and Sydney. Hoping to understand more about her adoption, Jane explores the lives of her adoptive mother and father prior to and during World War II, her birth in London in 1947 and her childhood with them in Salisbury, Rhodesia. She searches for her biological family, and eventually, in 2005, learns of her mother Phyllis, a well-educated elegant, exuberant woman, who inexplicably and tragically abandoned him when he was just 8 weeks old. Snippets of Phyllis's life emerge. Phyllis bred dalmatians all her life. At the start of World War II, Phyllis volunteered for the British Army and lived in Ashby Castle near Bletchley Park, the centre of Britain’s codebreakers, while driving for the Women’s Transport Service. In September 1944, she was sent by the Dutch to Arnhem to spy and report on the German defences. How could this be true? Jane resolved to retrace Phyllis's life together to try and substantiate the family stories.