Searching for Mom: A Memoir

Book Synopsis: Gold Medal, Illumination Book Awards | National Indie Excellence Awards Winner | Readers' Favorite Silver Medalist | Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards, Honorable MentionSearching for Mom is a “disarmingly honest” mother-daughter story.

Sara Easterly spent a lifetime looking for the perfect mother. As an adoptee she had difficulties attaching to her mother, struggled with her faith, lived the effects of intergenerational wounding, and felt an inherent sense of being unwanted that drove her to perfectionism, suicidal ideations, and fantasy mothers. When she became a mom, her search to find and become “the perfect mother” intensified ... until her mother’s death launched a spiritual epiphany. Sara’s perspective as an adoptee offers insight for anyone in the adoption constellation. And her hopeful story with themes of belonging, family, forgiveness, and being known are universally relevant to all mothers and daughters.

PRAISE FOR SEARCHING FOR MOM:

“Easterly examines her relationships with her birth and adoptive mothers in her engrossing debut ... a difficult story with brute honesty and impressive introspection.”—Publishers Weekly

“Easterly’s memoir contains a great deal of valuable information that may be helpful to adoptive parents, and to adoptees who feel a loss of biological connection ... A complicated but vividly portrayed search for identity.”—Kirkus Reviews

“As an adoptive mom four times over, I’m hungry for the perspective of adult adoptees. Sara Easterly’s Searching for Mom is powerfully delivered. Sara’s vulnerable writing, backed up by research and supported by scripture, allowed me a valuable glimpse into the secret places in the hearts of my children. My prayer is that through the questions, doubts, and tears, my kids will come to see, as Sara did, that they are ‘unusually rich in mothers.’”—Shannan Martin, author of The Ministry of Ordinary Places and Falling Free

“I entered into Sara Easterly’s story expecting a riveting narrative—which it is, to be sure. What I didn’t expect was a story that would speak to me so personally. Searching for Mom is, on the surface, a memoir about adoption. Beyond that, though, it’s also a book about our common quest for wholeness, meaning, connection, belonging, and truth. Sara explores these deeply universal themes with unflinching honesty, authenticity, and vulnerability, which means this book will speak straight to your heart and soul—whether you are an adoptee or not.”—Michelle DeRusha, Author of True You: Letting Go of Your False Self to Uncover the Person God Created

“Fiercely personal, Sara’s memoir exposes the cracks in her formerly sugarcoated adoption story. Sara perseveres in seeking the truth, revealing the painful wounds of adoption loss. We follow her journey to healing with both her mothers, which unexpectedly culminates in a newfound understanding of God’s mothering.”—Haley Radke, Creator and host of Adoptees On podcast

“Sara Easterly has created a fearlessly beautiful story of a daughter’s search for a kind of perfect love she actually—in the end and much to her own surprise—finds.”—Anne Heffron, Author of You Don’t Look Adopted and founder of Write or Die

“A touching story of raw daughter-mother attachment with all its imperfections and heartaches, together with surprising twists and redemptive forgiveness. It rings true because it is truly delivered.”—Gordon Neufeld, Ph.D., Founder, Neufeld Institute, and best-selling author of Hold On to Your Kids

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