Catherine L. (ritikitib) reviewed The Mistress's Daughter (Audio CD) (Unabridged) on + 21 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This is a wonderful audio book. Ms. Holmes writes with lots of compassion about her experiences as an adopted child. Her birth mother sought her out, and what happened once she learned about who her birth parents were. She writes with warmth and compassion about both her adoptive relatives and her birth parents. This is a very good book for anyone who has interest in adopting or who knows someone who was adopted. I hope someone gets to enjoy it as much as I did.
I love the narration of Jane Adams and I was originally drawn to this story because it is autobiographical. I enjoyed this story of human nature and self reflection. After you listen, you feel as if you have a personal friendship with A.M. Holmes.
Because this is an autobiography, one cannot expect the same fast-paced, tightly-wound spring of a story line as one might get from a murder mystery. The book was well-written but seemed to sag a bit in the middle.
Stephanie T. (stephkayeturner) reviewed The Mistress's Daughter (Audio CD) (Unabridged) on + 34 more book reviews
I read The Mistress's Daughter by A. M. Homes because I am also writing a memoir about my absent father. Homes was the product of her very young mother's affair with a much older, married man. They gave her up for adoption at birth. When Homes is 31, her mother contacts her and Homes discovers both her parents. Her interactions with them, exciting at first, prove ultimately disappointing. I really enjoyed the parts where Homes imagines her mother's youth, the affair, the pregnancy. I felt that the part where Homes recounts her genealogical research into her parents' ancestors was quite boring at times: this person came to America, got married to X, had a child named Y, etc., etc. The most moving part was the list of questions that Homes wants to ask her father, but which he refuses to answer. A very interesting memoir, well narrated.
