Book Review: Like One of Our Very Own
I tend to avoid reviewing books about adoption. In fact, I avoid books about adoption in general, I’m not sure why. Maybe for the same reason that when I worked in theatre I avoided plays. Too much like work. Besides, having. come of age reading 19th century literary essays, the New York Review of Books, and the Evergreen Review, anything less than a 6,000 word essay referencing the obscure is beyond my patience. A “formal “book review is a mission impossible.What goes through the head fails to make it down the fingers and on to the keyboard. Still, occasionally I find a book about adoption that speaks to me; that. I want to share. As an historian, by training, this usually means books on the history of adoption.. And, as a specialist in the Progressive Era (which I blame most for of our current economic and social messes) , I especially look for adoption books that cover late 19th-early 20th century. Like One of Our Very Own: Adoption and the Changing Culture of Motherhood, 1851-1950.by Julie Berebitsky is one of them. I first read Like Our Very Own in 2009. A few years earlier I’d read a conference paper Continue Reading →