An Adopted Daughter's Memoir of Tiaras, Tough Truths, and Tall Tales
January 1, 2024
Eddington, a journalist and dance instructor, offers a memoir of being an adoptee. In her debut, the author presents a highly readable personal account that's full of twists and turns. The book initially alternates between Eddington's childhood in Morrice, Michigan, and the adulthood it shaped, beginning with conflicting accounts of how and why her birth mother put her up for adoption. The author also addresses her own parental choices, including her decision to have a single child. The book's second half focuses on her discovery of her birth family with the help of genetic testing and divulges other secrets about her background, which led her to find multiple relatives, living and dead, including full siblings; she also discovered her birth name, Mary Ann Lopez, and a birthdate that was roughly a month earlier than two other birthdays she'd celebrated as a child. This same section notes her discovery of her Mexican heritage, and her speculations on how her background may or may not have affected her white adoptive parents' feelings toward her. Eddington's book starts somewhat slowly and gets a bit bogged down in details of her early years, although it quickly picks up and becomes a consistently engaging read. In some ways, the memoir is typical of many adoptee stories, as in Eddington's conclusion that people's true parents are the ones who raised them. But it's also a bracingly honest look at the author's feelings about the birth family she discovered; Eddington highlights the initial uncertainty of her adoption due to her adoptive mother's health crisis. The adoption narrative is closely interwoven with a more general personal memoir of growing up in Morrice, and it works best as a story of a woman connecting with her origins and discovering who she really is. A personal work that effectively addresses issues surrounding adoption in America.
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January 22, 2024
Journalist Eddington’s absorbing memoir debut offers the intimate, at times wrenching story of an adoptee piecing together the puzzle of her convoluted family history through found family members, teachers, court officials, and a zeal for truth. At the age of 15, Eddington learned that the birthday she had grown up celebrating was not her true day of birth. Pressed on this, her adoptive mother explained that the choice had been a precautionary tactic, an attempt to ward off nosy neighbors from finding out Eddington’s background. Decades would pass before she learned that a five-day change in birth dates was only the beginning of the truth behind her adoption, her adoptive parents, and the reasons why her biological parents gave her away.
Putting her reporting skills to use, the grown-up Eddington retraced her family lineage through a DNA test, a Report of Investigation document, and the family she discovered during her research into her childhood history. As Eddington shares, in engaging accounts of sleuthing, each new secret and each new familial tie, she reflects on this tumultuous time in her life with raw and captivating prose, rich with insight. Towing the tight line of honoring and cherishing the parents who loved and raised her, but wanting the truth about her birth parents, Eddington pays homage to both sets as she works through her own internal struggle as she discovers ever more truths about her adoption. This layered story of self-discovery and family history is a moving exploration of familial bonds, the adoption process, and complex relationships between parents and their children.
The Girl With Three Birthdays is riveting and mysterious, a story that will draw readers in as it pulls at their heart strings. Perfect for fans of investigative journalism and memoirs replete with shocking family history, readers will find Eddington's unyielding pursuit of the truth gripping and suspenseful, filled with jolting revelations, relatable family dynamics, and in-depth looks at love, family, and grief.
Takeaway: Memoir of family secrets, self-discovery, and the truth of one adoption.
Comparable Titles: Emma Stevens’s The Gathering Place, Leora Krygier's Do Not Disclose.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A