The Box – A War Time Gift | Austin Macauley Publishers

Jean always loved her wooden toy box, akin to a small travelling trunk. Its mysterious origins were unknown to her all her life.

The discovery one day that her father was not her birth father, but an American soldier, created a massive shock for Jean. She realized she was not who she thought she was.

Now an adult, she decided to embark on a search for the American soldier – an emotional roller coaster lasting seven years.

Her tenacity and determination to find her birth father led her, in the end, to the biggest surprise of her life.

Norma has written and self-published two books, Somewhere Out There: An English Woman’s Search for Her GI Father (1998) and an eBook titled Daughter in Chains: A Mother’s Harrowing Tale (2013). She has also published several magazine articles, usually on her own experiences.

The Box – A War Time Gift was written based on a true story. Norma felt this story should be written as it had a massive impact on her childhood, showing how poor they were just after the war and the joy of having a toy box bringing her such pleasure in a time of depravation. She was unaware that this was a gift from her biological father, an American soldier. She began her search.