Mary-Kim Arnold

A beautifully produced meditation on selfhood and how it intersects with complex family relationships and disconnection from heritage. Born in Korea, Arnold is an adoptee of American parents, but the questions she asks about identity are relevant to anyone whose parentage is complicated by fractured relationships and lost memories. So much of this book made me ask myself: how many of the "truths" I've been given about my identity are not truths at all? Or at least, only as true as a fairy tale? Do I really remember what I remember? Or is it just more comforting to "know" what I'm told? The orphan's story, whether in fairy tale or in life, shines a light on the many ways in which every individual must master her own story. In this wise, welcoming book, Arnold also employs an enthralling selection of images that reminded me of how inclined I am to look at my family's professed memories through a lens that is not my own.… (meer)