A review by nursenell
Daybreak by Belva Plain

4.0

An interesting book. A 19 y.o. and his parents, two sets of parents as it turns out, learn he was switched at birth. It's rare but it happens. A Jewish baby goes home with a Methodist family whose father is secretly a member of the Klan. The young man has already begun aligning himself with right wing causes. The mother is more to the left, a woman who loves and accepts everyone for who they are, no regard to race or religion. A younger son, age 11, has cystic fibrosis and is in and out of the hospital. The other baby, destined to soon be diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, goes home with the Jewish family, who are also extremely wealthy. This baby doesn't reach age 19, he does before then but died a faithful, practicing Jew. The book explores all the dynamics between the parents of different political persuasions, the young man who is anguished over learning he's Jewish plus he's in love for the first time, and the two sets of parents.

It had always been assumed the switch of the babies had been an accident, a careless mistake by a nurse. But in fact it wasn't, it was a deliberate switch. I did not see that end coming.