I finished my book, Secret Daughter, which I had had my eye on for months in Chapters and then received in the book exchange at my parents' place last weekend:
After the book exchange was over my mom said, "That book isn't that good." And I was bummed out. We usually share impressions of books, so if she didn't like it, I likely wouldn't either. But I'm thinking she read a different book and thought it was this one, because this was FANTASTIC! The kind of book where at the end of it you feel cranky and lost for a few days because you can't read it anymore. It's about international adoption, the origins of identity, and the ethical plasticity that is so evident in Indian culture. SO GOOD! I highly recommend it. It helps that I'm entrenched in adoption myself, as an adoptive momma. Though I have absolutely no qualms about my adopted child accessing his birth family. We facilitate this as much as we can, in fact. Anyways. Good read.
I have recently read three books on adoption, all by chance. I read Damaged by Cathy Glass, a foster parent in the UK who writes about her experiences fostering an incredible range of children, and this book was about a deeply disturbing situation and a very disturbed little girl. I hate to attach the label damaged to any child, because it dismisses the very real possibility for redemption, but this case is so severe that even I would agree that she was damaged.
I also am reading about adopted adult siblings who are in the process of seeking their birth parents. That one has a lot of really awful adoption stereotypes in it, and misunderstanding regarding birth mothers, which I find offensive.
Other than books, we've been traipsing around meeting up with friends and family for christmas fun, and generally avoiding wrapping presents.
=)
Happy Christmas Eve, everyone. Love and eggnog. [enjoy an extra mug for me...]
1 comment:
I read that book last month and really liked it too!!
Post a Comment