Reviews for Shattered Dreams--Lonely Choices: Birthparents of Babies with Disabilities Talk About Adoption

The average rating for Shattered Dreams--Lonely Choices: Birthparents of Babies with Disabilities Talk About Adoption based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-02-02 00:00:00 Bryan Scott No synopsis can do justice to this absolutely fascinating memoir. Marguerite Chien Church has created a lasting gift for her family and her readers in capturing and preserving the details of her very remarkable early life, through her narrative, family photographs and illustrations. Adopted as an infant by her biological father's brother and his American wife, Church was raised in Peking, along with her adopted siblings. The Chien family belonged to China's very privileged class, but then suffered a loss of status and fortune during the Japanese occupation and during World War II. Much as her mother entertained visitors to China in the opulent Chinese guest house she established in 1932, Church rewards her readers with a insider's view of China and its people that only her unique Chinese/western heritage and education would allow. Church, along with many of her relations, fled the country following the War, but brings the reader back to Peking (now Beijing), as she wraps up her narritive with an account of a trip back with her husband and children in 1995. I truly felt transported to a different time and place as I read, and came away with a much better understanding of the Chinese way (and pertaining to so much more than adoption!). By all means take this opportunity to appreciate the foods, customs, architecture, and rich cultural traditions of China as it was during this period of immense changes.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-09-09 00:00:00 Josefina Barria This book makes you think about things that our mind blocks out because they aren't pretty, hard to understand, and society has a tendency to just sweep things like this under the rug.