Surrendered Child: A Birth Mother’s Journey (Awp Award Series in Creative Nonfiction) Surrendered Child is Karen Salyer McElmurray’s raw, poignant account of her journey from the teenager who put her newborn child up for adoption to the woman desperately searching for the son she never knew. In a patchwork narrative interwoven with dark memories from her childhood, McElmurray deftly treads where few dare–into a gritty, honest exploration of the loss a birth mother experiences.
The year was 1973, a time of social upheaval, even in small-town Kentucky, where McElmurray grew up. More than a story of time and place, however, this is about a girl who, at the age of sixteen, relinquished her son at birth. Twenty-five years would pass before McElmurray began sharing this part of her past with others and actively looking for her son.
McElmurray’s own troubled upbringing and her quest after a now-fully-grown son are the heart of her story. With unflinching honesty, McElmurray recounts both the painful surrendering and the surprise rediscovery of her son, juxtaposed with her portrayal of her own mother, who could not provide the love she needed. The dramatic result is a story of birthright lost and found–and an exploration of the meaning of motherhood itself.
Customer Review: I Highly Recommend
First, the book is NOT a biography; it is, however, a memoir and I challenge anyone to recall with perfection every occurrence in his or her lives. In addition, yes, this book is indeed a journey. It is a journey through the nonlinear realm of memories. It is a journey through the expansion and compression of time. The expansion and compression that goes on in our minds and hearts as we recall, or attempt to recall, those instances in our past that framed our future. It is indeed a bumpy ride that McElmurray takes us on through those oscillations. However, it is truly a marvelous work and I compliment the author not only her bravery but for her creative ability to take us on this “journey” for redemption, on this “journey” for closure and ultimately to the beginning of a new “journey” for the author. The “journey” for her and her son to come to terms with all that has happened. A beautifully written book it is more like poetry than prose. Like a hushed cry, it will call you into the memories and will hold on to you until the very end.
Customer Review: The Best Birthmother Narrative I Have Read
This is an important book for all interested in adoption and especially the birthmother experience to read. The writing is far superior to the usual adoption memoir; liquid,lyrical, poignant, vivid and emotionally true. The poetic stream of consciousness style is perfect to convey the ambiguity, pain, guilt, and clouded memory of a mother who gives up a child, especially the aftermath suffered alone in secrecy and self-loathing. The author’s skill in making specific sights, sounds, smells stand out like objects coming into focus through a thick fog is especially effective in anchoring the narrative in reality while the very nature of that remembered reality is questioned.
Putting Food By (Plume) Customer Review: The bible of Canning and Freezing
