Lynard1210
searching for me
Registered: September 2004
Location: Ohio
Posts: 352
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Review Date: Wed January 7, 2009
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $25.00| Rating: 0
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A Book Review: By Lynn Grubb
THE SOUND OF HOPE: A True Story of an Adoptee’s Quest for Her Origins (Author: Anne Bauer) www.adopteesvoice.com
Discovering this wonderful memoir by a lucky twist of fate was the highlight of my holidays. After much anticipation, it arrived at my door three days before Christmas. I couldn’t put it down until I absorbed every delightful nugget of it.
Anne takes you through her childhood and what it is like experiencing one physical reality (her adopted family) while at the same time, living in another reality (the fantasy world of her birth family). If there were ever any question about whether adopted children think about their birth families, this book puts that doubt to rest.
Each character is well-developed and by contrasting the unique personalities in her adopted siblings, one gets a glimpse into how adoption affects children differently. I especially enjoyed the unique relationship Anne describes with her maternal grandmother, who Anne later discovers she has more in common with than originally believed.
As Anne reaches adulthood, her curiosity turns into a plan of action and she defies both the rules of society and the important people in her life to get answers to the secrets of the past. The book shows a wide range of different reactions in people who learn that Anne is searching and how the search brings out deep insecurities in not only adoptive parents but in others outside her family.
As I read about Anne’s developing relationship with her birthmother, I felt like I was walking on eggshells right along next to her. I felt her frustration and hurt as she tried repeatedly to help her parents and fiance understand her need to know her birth family. I also felt her elation at finally discovering the truth.
Issues the book explores are fears of abandonment, communication barriers, expectations in reunion, closed records and how adoptees cross emotional landmines at every turn.
I hope this book will awaken the general public and lawmakers of this country to the recognition that concealing the truth of children’s pasts does a lot of damage that could otherwise be prevented through open records, open communication and education.
This book is wonderfully written and gives any reader, adopted or not, a better understanding of adoption through the eyes of the adoptee. But what makes it a stand-out among other adoption books is its deep honesty of both the pain and joy we all discover when we embark on the journey to know and understand ourselves and those we love better.
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