First published 1987
The protagonist confronts a system that keeps adoption records locked away from those they concern most. When they decide to search for information about their biological origins, they discover that legal barriers stand between adoptees and their own histories. The story follows their journey through bureaucratic obstacles and emotional challenges as they seek answers about where they came from. Other characters grapple with their own relationships to adoption, some supporting open records while others defend the traditional sealed system. The narrative explores how laws meant to protect can also harm, and how the right to know one's origins conflicts with promises of privacy made decades earlier. At its heart, this is a story about identity and the human need to understand one's place in the world.
Genres: fiction, contemporary, adoption, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, overcoming-obstacles
127 pages · Hardcover · Messner Julian