{"product_id":"inconvenient-daughter-lauren-j-sharkey-9781617759345","title":"Inconvenient Daughter","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"In Sharkey's stirring...debut, a transracial adoptee of Korean descent endures a crisis of identity...Sharkey achieves a moving account of Rowan's difficult reckoning with her identity. This is an adept portrayal of the long shadow of abuse and the difficulty of being an adoptee.\"\u003cbr\u003e --\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This debut novel vividly details the awkwardness of high school and heartbreak of rejection. Rowan's first-person narrative voice provides sharp, devastating emotional insight.\"\u003cbr\u003e --\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIncluded in \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Rumpus\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e's What to Read When You Want to Celebrate Women's History\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Lauren J. Sharkey's masterfully plotted portrait of Rowan, a smart and willful young woman in wild rebellion against the life she's been handed, is so raw and honest, written with such passion and heart, you turn the pages rooting for her to love herself as much as the reader and her indomitable adopted mother do. \u003cem\u003eInconvenient Daughter\u003c\/em\u003e delivers this and so much more.\"\u003cbr\u003e --\u003cstrong\u003eBeverly Donofrio\u003c\/strong\u003e, author of \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAstonished: A Story of Healing and Finding Grace\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Lauren J. Sharkey's emotionally searing novel chronicles its heroine's quest to forge her true self. Deeply felt and intensely written, \u003cem\u003eInconvenient Daughter\u003c\/em\u003e speaks to the need we all have to find our place in the world, our place of belonging and acceptance. This is a powerful and stunning literary debut.\"\u003cbr\u003e --\u003cstrong\u003eSue William Silverman\u003c\/strong\u003e, author of \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eLove Sick: One Woman's Journey through Sexual Addiction\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Steel, raw love, and rage forge the relationships between Rowan Kelly and her family. \u003cem\u003eInconvenient Daughter\u003c\/em\u003e illuminates with cutting truth the layers of longing and grief which underlie a transracial adoption. Author Lauren J. Sharkey shines a light on how the truth of being loved and belonging can transcend the construct of biology. Sharkey provides heart-rending insight that never dips into false sentimentality, wrapped in a sharply written, intense, and page-turning novel. I simply loved this book.\"\u003cbr\u003e --\u003cstrong\u003eRandy Susan Meyers\u003c\/strong\u003e, bestselling author of \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWaisted \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Rare is the book willing to confess how essential belonging is, to detail the myriad ways we both seek it and suffer from its absence. Readers will discover in Sharkey's prose a truth few authors have the honesty to acknowledge or the courage to reveal.\"\u003cbr\u003e --\u003cstrong\u003eKevin Clouther\u003c\/strong\u003e, author of \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWe Were Flying to Chicago\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRowan Kelly knows she's lucky. After all, if she hadn't been adopted, she could have spent her days in a rice paddy, or a windowless warehouse assembling iPhones--they make iPhones in Korea, right? Either way, slowly dying of boredom on Long Island is surely better than the alternative. But as she matures, she realizes that she'll never know if she has her mother's eyes, or if she'd be in America at all had her adoptive parents been able to conceive.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRowan sets out to prove that she can be someone's first choice. After running away from home--and her parents' rules--and ending up beaten, barefoot, and topless on a Pennsylvania street courtesy of Bad Boy Number One, Rowan attaches herself to Never-Going-to-Commit. When that doesn't work out, she fully abandons self-respect and begins browsing Craigslist personals. But as Rowan dives deeper into the world of casual encounters with strangers, she discovers what she's really looking for.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith a fresh voice and a quick wit, Lauren J. Sharkey dispels the myths surrounding transracial adoption, the ties that bind, and what it means to belong.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Lauren J. Sharkey\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1617759341\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781617759345\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Akashic Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/29\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 198\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.89lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.63d","brand":"Lauren J. Sharkey","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43943019643135,"sku":"9781617759345","price":35.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_615f21bc-29a3-492a-a949-f09ea8505921.jpg?v=1681495746","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/inconvenient-daughter-lauren-j-sharkey-9781617759345","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}