This was the first book I ever read about an adoptee searching for her birth parents but it was, and remains, an incredible eye-opening experience. The author so emotionally and deftly makes the reader understand what it's like to not know another person "who looks like me". No matter how wonderful the adopting parents are or the childhood experience, this almost congenital yearning for a blood connection becomes starkly recognizable. There are a few adoptees who claim to have no such longing but most do.

Florence set out on her quest in the dark ages of adoptee searching when records were sealed and unavailable to all but the most cunning. Even today, some states continue to deny adults that which is certainly a birthright for everyone else. And even though the outcome of Florence's search was not the ecstatically blissful reunion we are treated to on afternoon talk shows, she values what she learned and continues to work towards opening records for all who seek their roots. This is a beautifully written book you will not be able to put down easily, even when you finish reading it. ( )