In this inspirational memoir, V. Lakshmi paints a portrait of an uncommon life: an orphan born in a remote village in India, adopted and raised by a white Jewish family in America. The tragic, mysterious death of V.'s biological mother two days after her birth foreshadows the maelstrom of sensitive feminine health issues V. would face in her life, including a twenty-year battle with endometriosis, infertility, failed adoption, and the decision to embrace hysterectomy as way of creating new life... the rebirth of V. herself. Lakshmi's voice is rooted in a cross-cultural, adoptive-family love story that flies in the face of society's expectations for women to look a "certain way" and slip comfortably into the American Dream. Not that our cultural dreams aren't beautiful, yet what happens when life changes our plans? Her heartbreaking and humorous anecdotes of initially coping, then soul-searching, and ultimately releasing anger at her body and the world shines with insight into the deepest core questions of human relationships and identity: Who am I, and why am I here in this world? With vulnerability and grace, V. simultaneously captures and frees the emotions surrounding all sides of adoption, her intense encounters with racism, her path to a loss of motherhood, and her courageous renaissance-illustrating how "the end" of one road is only the beginning of another...and how the unforeseen is also beautiful and perhaps more fulfilling than we could have ever imagined. A portion of the proceeds from sales will be donated to the author's first home, Family Village Farm.
