e-mail
I was sent The English American by Alison Larkin for review, well, many months ago. It has taken me until now to pick it up. Once picked up, I couldn’t put it down. Not only is the writing absolutely phenomenal but the subject was so close to my heart that I simply needed to know how it ended.
Not a spoiler because it doesn’t end in the way you expect but: it has a happy ending. And as the book is about an adoptee, her search for her biological parents and the (wacky) reunion that ensues, a happy ending is what every birth parent should want for their child.
All that said, I don’t imagine that Pippa, the main character and adoptee, would say, if she were real and doing a post-book interview, that her birth mother, Billie, felt the ending was especially endearing. The book paints Billie as overzealous, demanding, somewhat unstable and manipulative: every stereotype you could think of a birth mother entering reunion with her adult child.
But it didn’t tick me off the way stereotypes usually do.
And that’s because of the writing. Larkin’s writing was outstanding. Instead of making the reader hate Billie for her insecurities, we are given a small window into why those insecurities exist. At the same time, we are shown that those insecurities should be Billie’s issue and not hoisted onto Pippa. When Pippa finally finds her voice and gives Billie heck, well, you can’t help but cheer for Pippa… even if you’re a birth mother and your heart keeps rooting for her to turn it around and stop being such a heel.
The reunion with her biological father, Walt, seems as though it will be great! And wonderful! But what would a novel be without conflict? One aspect of importance I thought that Larkin did a fabulous job with was the incorporation of how birth parents of days gone by don’t often/always tell their families of the relinquished child. Upon reunion, issues arise. Those issues don’t just affect the “new” family but can have a profound impact on the adoptee as well. And again, while I wanted everything to be hunky-dory, the way in which Larkin approached these topics and the words that she chose to explain all sides of the coin left me somehow pleased.
I can’t tell you the last time that I said an adoption novel left me feeling pleased. Eons. Ever? I don’t know.
Can I tell you something though? My favorite part of the book wasn’t the intertwining love stories. Or the initial happiness upon reunion. Or how supportive her (adoptive) Mum was regarding the whole thing. No, it was the grammar lesson! Larkin, an adoptee who was born in the United States and raised in England and Africa, was able to use her knowledge of British and American English and taught me a thing or two! Or three! I think my Husband was absolutely tired of my incessant reading aloud of sentences to point out differences in language. I had such a blast with this aspect of the book. I am 100% certain that if I went to England, they would laugh my Grammar Snob butt back to America. Oh, it was such fun to learn.
All in all, I think this is an important adoption novel. Yes, it is fiction. But there are some important points that I think birth parents, adoptees and adoptive parents can all walk away from with after reading this book. Perhaps a “Do’s and Don’ts” of reunion? A warning of sorts? A call to own your own words, emotions and circumstances? A reminder that we’re never alone in this adoption world and our experiences, decisions and words affect other parties? Nature and nurture work differently … but together? I don’t know. I took away so much from this book. And I cried very little, which is good nowadays!
In short, pick it up.
//
For more book reviews, read these posts.
Photo Credit: 2008 Jenna Hatfield.
