b- Mother By: Maureen O'Brien

I found this book by chance at my local library while I was waiting for the books for my book clubs to arrive back (I had three on hold at one time!) and thought I'd read it.  It was written by a local author and I figured it would be a quick read.  Considering I'm a birthmom myself, I thought I would be able to relate to the story and hoped I wouldn't cry too much while reading it.  The main character, Hillary, got pregnant at 16 after her mother pretty much abandoned all parenting skills towards her when her eldest child died as a Freshmen in college.  She had hoped to keep her baby, but when she finally told her parents she was pregnant, they shipped her off to a Catholic agency for pregnant girls where she lived in a dorm with other pregnant teens until she gave birth.

For a first novel, I believe the author did a pretty good job of conveying the character's emotions in the novel.  I cried when Hillary left the hospital and again when she was able to establish contact with her son after he turned 18.  She pined for him for all 18 of those years and never quite forgave her mother for shipping her off.  While she wanted to keep her son, she still went through with the adoption even though she didn't have to.  She kept in touch with his adoptive parents over the years on his birthday (much like I do with my son).  I cried the most at the end when she got a letter from her son and then when they met.  Just to imagine what it'll be like one day if my son contacts me brought up a lot of feelings I tend to hide away.  I'm not sure that someone who hasn't experienced adoption firsthand whether as a birthparent, adoptive parent, or adoptee would feel as much emotion as I did, but I think it is a pretty good portrayal of what a semi-open adoption might be like for a girl and her family.

It was a quick read for me and I'm glad I stumbled across it.