“Little Fires Everywhere” explores the impact of adoption on family dynamics and motherhood. The novel is set in suburban Shaker Heights, Ohio, where everything seems calm and planned.
When a custody battle erupts over the adoption of a Chinese-American baby, frictions between families surface. Relationships are tested, secrets spill out, and characters question what makes a family a family.
Ng’s characters navigate sensitive topics about identity, repression, and societal expectations, prompting readers to ponder the complexities of adoption and motherhood.
In “The Language of Flowers,” Victoria, a young woman who grew up in foster care, finds comfort through flowers and their hidden meanings.
After aging out of the system, Victoria struggles to trust others and form personal connections, carrying the effects of her adoption and abandonment. Through flowers, she communicates feelings she has difficulty expressing otherwise.
Diffenbaugh sensitively portrays Victoria’s journey from isolation towards acceptance and healing, highlighting how earlier experiences of adoption impact adult identity and emotional life.
Anne Tyler’s “Digging to America” follows two families who meet at a Baltimore airport where each family receives their newly adopted Korean baby girls. This chance encounter evolves into a long-term friendship between an Iranian-American family and an American-born family.
The novel delves into ideas of cultural identity, parenting styles, and belonging, questioning what truly shapes identity—adoption, heritage, or both.
Tyler’s portrayal sheds insight into cultural clashes and connections that arise when adopting children internationally and forming cross-cultural families.
“The Great Santini” introduces readers to the Meecham family under the rule of a strict authoritarian Marine father named Bull Meecham. Although adoption is not the primary focus, the novel powerfully portrays Ben Meecham’s struggle within a dysfunctional family.
This exploration of strained father-son relationships, family expectations, and tough discipline sheds meaningful light on themes of family and belonging.
Readers witness Ben’s emotional growth under the shadow of an oppressive figure, motivating thoughts on adoption, family bonds, and what it means to truly belong.
Lisa Wingate’s “Before We Were Yours” exposes dark chapters of adoption history based on true events. Alternating between past and present, the story explores the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, an orphanage run by Georgia Tann that dealt in kidnapped children for adoption.
Wingate follows the struggles of the Foss siblings, separated from family and faced with unimaginable decisions.
Readers experience an emotional journey into the realities and consequences of adoption fraud, loss, and family secrets, highlighting questions of identity, love, and reunion.
“Three Little Words” is a memoir by Ashley Rhodes-Courter that recounts her experiences within the foster care system from early childhood to eventual adoption. Rhodes-Courter vividly describes emotional neglect, instability, and the daunting bureaucracy of foster care.
Her memoir shows readers how even seemingly small words and moments can deeply affect a child’s connection to belonging and family.
Honest and powerful, this memoir highlights both the heartbreaking difficulties and eventual healing Rhodes-Courter experiences when she finally finds a stable, loving adoptive family.
“Orphan Train” blends historical fiction with a contemporary storyline. Christina Baker Kline describes the historical orphan trains which transported orphaned and abandoned children from cities to rural homes across America from 1854 to 1929.
Vivian, an elderly woman who once rode an orphan train, confronts her authoritarian past when she bonds with Molly, a teenager in foster care facing similar problems.
Their shared experiences bridge generations, depicting the long-lasting effect adoption and displacement can have on identity, relationships, and one’s sense of belonging.
In “Anne of Green Gables,” Montgomery provides readers with charming and spirited Anne Shirley, an imaginative, talkative orphan mistakenly adopted by aging siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert.
This beloved classic highlights the heartwarming transformation for both adopted child and adoptive family. Anne’s lively spirit and unfiltered passion for life enriches the household in profoundly unexpected ways, reshaping notions of family, love, identity, and acceptance.
This touching, enduring story vividly illustrates how adoption can blossom into a deeply fulfilling family relationship.
Barbara Kingsolver’s “The Bean Trees” follows protagonist Taylor Greer, who unexpectedly becomes a mother figure to an abandoned Native American child she names Turtle.
Initially running from adult responsibility, Taylor must navigate new challenges and difficulties that arise from caring for a child alone. As Turtle and Taylor bond, readers become involved in the struggle and confusion around adoption laws, custody, and identity.
Readers witness how unconventional motherhood and family forms can arise, highlighting adoption’s profound and sometimes unplanned impacts on personal growth and identity.
“A Little Life” follows the intertwined lives and friendships of four men in New York City, focusing primarily on Jude, a character deeply traumatized by abuses endured during childhood.
His troubled past profoundly shapes his adult identity, complicating intimate relationships and self-perception.
Though adoption is subtly layered through Jude’s pursuit of family-like bonds, the novel passionately illustrates the internal struggles adoptees or foster youth can experience.
Yanagihara offers compelling insight into how traumas of childhood abandonment and loss linger into adulthood, deeply affecting personal identity and family dynamics.
John Irving’s “The Cider House Rules” centers around Homer Wells, an orphan raised at St. Cloud’s Orphanage in Maine under Dr. Wilbur Larch, who provides abortions while also delivering and caring for unwanted children.
Homer wrestles with shaping his own moral compass while grappling with questions of identity, parental responsibility, and understanding true family beyond blood relations.
Irving’s storytelling showcases how deeply emotional and complex adoption and orphanhood decisions can affect one’s morality, choices, and search for meaning.
Janet Fitch’s novel “White Oleander” portrays Astrid Magnussen’s troubling journey through multiple foster homes after her mother’s imprisonment.
Fitch uses adoption and foster care experiences as vivid backdrops, exploring themes of abandonment, maternal conflict, identity struggles, and troubled youth.
Readers experience Astrid’s emotional turmoil and wavering sense of belonging, capturing her intense longing for identity and stability amid chaos.
Fitch masterfully portrays the complicated emotional consequences of foster and adoption environments upon shaping a young woman’s developing identity.
In Maddie Dawson’s “Matchmaking for Beginners,” readers meet Blix, a woman who surprisingly leaves her Brooklyn brownstone to her husband’s ex-niece-in-law, Marnie.
Though not directly focused on adoption, the storyline gently unravels themes related to found family, unexpected connections, and defining true belonging.
Marnie’s search for connection and community, driven by Blix’s unusual legacy, highlights adoption-like bonds created through unconventional circumstances.
Dawson warmly illustrates how relationships formed outside traditional family structures can profoundly shape one’s self-discovery and outlook on life.