Mixed blessing - Hardcover

Rezensionen

While this is purportedly about an adoptee's successful search for her nat ural parent, its real power is as a heart rending true story about child abuse. McMillon courageously shares her ex periences and feelings about the violent treatment she received from her adop tive mother; her adoptive father's in ability to change or cope with her moth er's behavior; and society's incapacity to assist the abused child. Fantasies about her natural mother are part of the fabric she weaves to help her survive her abuse; ultimately, her successful search contributes to her understanding and acceptance of her adoptive mother. The style is somewhat uneven, and there seems to be occasional gaps in chronology which make it difficult to understand the autobiographical flow; nonetheless, this is a strong book on a volatile and timely subject. Recom mended for public libraries. Sallie L. Foster, Arizona State Univ. Lib., Tempe
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

McMillon, a famous television newscaster, describes the emotional background of the 1981 headlined reunion with her biological mother, Josefine Reiser, who gave her up for adoption 30 years before because "it wasn't in the best interests of a white German woman to have a brown baby." Throughout a stormy adolescence in the United States with her black adoptive parents, whose often violent marrige, she writes, affected her emotional development, McMillon entertained fantasties about her natural mother. Despite success in career and marriage, her need to find the mother who had seemingly abandoned her became obsessive, ending in a search that resulted in even more ambiguity. Frank in language and judgment, McMillon's story is told in the vein of pop psychology. November 5
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.