As if Born to You (Paperback)

When thirteen-year-old Zuri begins cutting herself, psychologist Ana is called in to help. Is the troubled girl trying to relieve the tension of being black in a predominantly white private school in the early days of South Africa’s democracy? And how healthy is Zuri’s relationship with Helen, the white single mom who adopted her?

Struggling to soften Zuri’s defences during the course of the therapy, Ana must piece together the puzzles of both Helen and her daughter, including the truth of what happened to Zuri’s biological mother. But reckless, alcoholic Ana carries within her an old trauma of her own.

In Susan Newham Blake’s moving novel, two women, equally damaged by the past and its secrets, discover that healing sometimes lies in unexpected places.