Searching for Mom

Easterly examines her relationships with her birth and adoptive mothers in her engrossing debut. Adopted at two days old, Easterly never felt fully connected to her adoptive family while growing up. Easterly’s feeling of abandonment led to battles with perfectionism, a lack of faith, and suicidal thoughts, as well as struggles with her adoptive mother, Linda, whose letters are interspersed throughout. In her late 30s, Easterly started searching for her birth mother, and though the decision caused pain for Linda and surprise for her birth mother, who was 15 when an adoption agent coerced her into giving up her baby, Easterly’s self-discovery blossoms as the two bond. Easterly discusses difficulties forgiving her adoptive mother for perceived missteps in her adoption (such as never explaining it happened in a legal gray area) and the way she was raised. For instance, she felt she was used as a tool for Linda’s faith (with Linda often explaining her own “spiritual deliverance” came after enrolling Easterly in a religious school), and that she was never fully loved. But therapy and Linda’s deteriorating health bring Easterly back to her adoptive mother and deliver some measure of restoration to their relationship. Easterly delivers a difficult story with brute honesty and impressive introspection. (Self-published)