I'd never read anything by this author before. (Her other books include Comfort, The Knitting Circle, and Do Not Go Gentle.) Maya Lange, the main character, runs an adoption agency that specializes in placing children from China with family from the United States.
The book alternates between many points of view -- each prospective parent, Maya, and the parents in China who have given up their daughters. It was certainly interesting how many different motivations there can be for the same desire -- that of wanting a baby to call your own.
I've often thought about the irrationality of guilt, especially when related to one's own child. Maya's own baby daughter died several years ago after falling from Maya's arms to the floor. Maya struggles with guilt and with allowing herself to love again. As a parent, the thought of my child dying because of something I'd done or hadn't done is crushing and I can understand that the fact that it was an accident would not take the guilt away.
In the acknowledgements the author briefly shares her own family's experience adopting a daughter from China. I would be interested to hear what parents who have adopted, whether domestically, from another country, or from China specifically, think of this book.
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