Chasing China A Daughter's Quest for the Truth: a search into the past and one's roots

Chasing China: A Daughter’s Quest for Truth by Kay Bratt is one woman’s determination to discover her roots. Mia left China as a child, adopted and loved by an American family. While she is grateful for the family she loves and the life she has been given, she still feels this nagging feeling that something is missing. Determined to learn as much as she can about her past, Mia heads to China and tries to follow the path that led to her being placed in an orphanage and eventually adopted. As she seeks information, she soaks up Chinese history and culture, and she feels the officials are hiding something. They know more than they are telling her. Even more determined to discover the truth, she might have to find a different route to discover the truth. Will she be able to find her family? Is she ready for the truth? 

Chasing China is a fast paced, suspenseful story as Mia fights to learn the truth. It is heartbreaking to see the condition of the children in and out of the orphanage. I loved how Ms. Bratt truly captured the turmoil raging inside Mia as she wants to know her birth family and feeling she is betraying the family who has raised and loved her. The story also doesn’t shy away from the careless and yet prejudiced comments from Americans about an adopted Chinese child. Mia is truly an individual between two worlds, not fully feeling belonging to either. There were quite a few surprises in this story which led to a few tears falling as I closed the book. There are a lot of details about Chinese culture, the people and the orphanages which I appreciated. I truly felt as if I was there with Mia. I highly recommend Chasing China. 

Chasing China: A Daughter’s Quest for Truth is available in paperback and eBook. 

As Time Unfolds: how can our family heritage influence our life paths?

As Time Unfolds by Barbara Zerfoss is the story of one woman’s search for her family’s history and lessons learned that can help save a life. Bethany Miller’s life is on the fast track as she is the CEO and owner of an advertising agency when it comes to a halt with a surprising phone call. She has inherited an ancestral home from the biological mother she never knew. Unsure what to do, she visits the home in Jameson, Virginia. Inside the grandfather clock known as The Timekeeper, Bethany discovers a treasured family journal. In it, generations of first daughters wrote one entry, sharing family secrets, chronicling a courageous life in challenging times and words of wisdom for the next generation of daughters. Reading these women’s stories, Bethany takes the chance to reassess her life moving forward. When an alarming encounter with one young girl’s soul piercing eyes keeps haunting her thoughts, Bethany senses a pull to help. But how? Can the stories of her maternal ancestors give her the strength and courage to fight for someone else? Even if it comes at a personal cost? 

As Time Unfolds is a story that dragged in the beginning and picked up at the halfway point. The connections between Bethany, her family’s legacy and the young missing girl isn’t made until the end. However, there was enough pull and intrigue to keep the reader looking for the connection. I enjoyed the story of Bethany discovering her family heritage more than the connection with the missing girl. I also enjoyed the grandfather clock. The Timekeeper was the silent character that stood watch as a guard and a guide. Although the issue of human trafficking is an important and current crisis, I felt it didn’t quite fit. The two stories didn’t quite mesh. There was also a lot of repeating information. At one point, Bethany finds newspaper articles that just rehash information that is revealed in the journal entries. It would have been possible to introduce the articles without doing another information dump to rehash information the reader already knows. Overall, I enjoyed As Time Unfolds for its story of courageous women from the past that informs and molds the courageous acts of today. I recommend As Time Unfolds. 

As Time Unfolds is available in paperback and eBook

The Pier at Jasmine Lake: the next step in an adoptee's journey

The Pier at Jasmine Lake by Danielle Stewart is the second book in the Missing Pieces series. Mark Ruiz’s life has been a structured routine and after exhausting days and forty one years of hard work, he was looking forward to retirement. The only problem is retirement is better in theory than in actual practice. In three months, he realizes that retirement is as stale as old bread. His cabin on Jasmine Lake was supposed to be a place of relaxation but he can’t seem to find peace. Filled with boredom and resigned to the ins and outs of retirement, he receives a letter that will change his life forever. A glimpse into a life he could have had but dangerously complicated. As Gwen searches for her father, she faces another dilemma. Is she willing to be a part of his struggles as well? Is not knowing better than the burdens truth can bring? 

The Pier at Jasmine Lake is a continuation of Gwen Fox’s adoption story and details the complexity of one’s journey to discovery of where they come from and the lives impacted when the story is revealed. Told between the perspectives of Gwen and Mark, we see both sides of Gwen’s journey to find her birth father and how Mark handles learning he had a daughter he didn’t know about. I enjoyed seeing that Gwen still struggled with her decision to find her birth parents, despite reassurances from her parents that her journey doesn’t change their feelings or her place in their family. Her continued struggle shows the reality of an adoptee’s search. That once the truth is discovered, it doesn't mean life is sunshine and roses. There is still questions that Gwen struggles with and as she gets closer to who her father is, will she like what she finds? I recommend The Pier at Jasmine Lake. 

The Pier at Jasmine Lake is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook. 

The Bend in Redwood Road: a search for answers and confronting the pain of the past

The Bend in Redwood Road by Danielle Stewart is the first book in the Missing Pieces series. Gwen Fox was adopted by two loving people and had the idyllic childhood that most people only dream of and yet there’s a deep ache and soul longing she tried to ignore. Some days were manageable but the wondering of what became of the baby she left behind hangs on the edges of her mind. Smiling through her pain and suffered in silence, Leslie Laudon marched forward, living the life so skillfully designed by her husband, Paul. She was the life as a dutiful wife and mother, she did everything for her husband and her children. But as her youngest daughter gets ready to head off to college and Leslie faces an empty nest, thoughts of her other child become more and more prominent. Riddled with doubt and waves of unanswered questions, Gwen and Leslie start a complex journey for answers, redemption and an identity. Gwen seeks the truth about the day she was born and Leslie seeks an identity, the woman she was before she was a wife and mother. As they begin down the road of no return, can they navigate the blame, the guilt? Are they prepared for the answers to their questions? 

The Bend in Redwood Road is a story about family: the one of genetics and the one of memories and love. Gwen is a great character caught between two worlds: the family she has grown up with and loved and the family she doesn’t know. She feels guilty seeking answers about her birth family. She feels she’s betraying the parents who lovingly raised her and possibly regretting the answers she finds when she seeks answers through her genetics. Leslie is a woman who made an impossible choice, one she questioned every day since she left her baby behind at the hospital. These two women are surrounded by great supporting characters and one not-so-great husband. My only complaint is that it seemed to drag out the climax and then rush to a resolution. The resolution is emotional and the answers to Gwen’s questions are gasp worthy revelations. I teared up at the end as these women realize they need to confront the past in order to move forward. There were moments of humor and heartfelt words of wisdom. A couple quotes I liked that I highlighted to write down when I finished. I highly recommend The Bend in Redwood Road. I look forward to reading the rest of the series. 

The Bend in Redwood Road is available in hardcover, paperback, eBook and audiobook. 

Why the sky is blue: a story of faith, trust and love

Why the sky is blue By Susan Meissner is a story about trust in God after a violent attack which leaves a woman pregnant and unsure what to do next. It is a story about faith, trust and trying to find meaning in life after horrible violence. Most importantly, it’s about a person’s ability to love.

Claire Holland only heard God speak to her once, when she was 4 years old. It was the morning her family learns that her father died in Korea. He whispered, “Do not be afraid.” 33 years later she hears that voice again telling her to not be afraid. She awakes in the hospital after being viciously attacked and left for dead. Miraculously she survived only to discover that she is pregnant and the only possibility is that the father is her attacker. Together with her husband, Dan, and her two children, 11-year old Katie and 6 year old, Spencer, she must face a choice. Claire always had difficulty carrying to term and she believes that she will lose the child like the others. But when the child continues to survives, Claire and Dan decide to give the baby up for adoption and try to move on with their lives. What happens when that baby grows up and enters their lives once again? Will the family be able to accept this person into their lives? Or will the family come crashing down?

I loved this book. It had me captivated from beginning to end. It is a great story about how God can use a bad event into a wonderful gift to the world. There were many great examples of this. Claire’s mother tries to example why God allows bad events to happen, she says “Sometimes asking God for a reason for something is like asking Him why the sky is blue. There is a complex, scientific reason for it.” That’s the theme of this story, that when the question is complex, the answer is too. There is a quote which resonated with me, “God’s reason for allowing certain things to happen are too complex for us to fully appreciate.” It is true that God’s reasons and thoughts are beyond our ability to reason and think that we couldn’t begin to understand. One day, I think He will reveal all to us. I highly recommend Why the sky is blue By Susan Meissner.

“Love is not blind- it sees more not less.

But because it sees more, it is willing to see less.”