EBOOK
Surrendered Child
A Birth Mother's Journey
Karen Salyer McElmurraySeries: Association of Writers and Writing Programs Award for Creative Nonfiction(0)
About
Surrendered Child is Karen Salyer McElmurray's raw, poignant account of her journey from her teen years, when she put her newborn child up for adoption, to adulthood and a desperate search 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.
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.
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Reviews
"Graceful, shocking, sensuous, and gritty, this book questions consequences. It ends at the beginning and begins at the end. A wonderful, almost unbearably honest book."
Sheri Reynolds, The Rapture of Canaan
"This innovative collection of essays seeks to enact a new way of thinking about poverty research, welfare policy, and development practice. It does so by drawing into explicit conversation two distinct traditions of research -American-based scholarship on the histories and practices of modern welfare systems, and critical ethnographies of development in the global South. . . . For any one book to
Beverly Lowry, author of Crossed Over: A Murder, a Memoir
"Not only a deeply moving personal story that takes great courage to tell, but also a beautiful and haunting exploration of the nature and the meaning of motherhood and love. McElmurray's lyrical, incantatory voice casts a magic spell."
Janice Eidus, author of The Celibacy Club