Rock Needs River

Author: Vanessa McGrady
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Amazon Publishing, 2019
Pages: 204
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: After two years of waiting to adopt - slogging through paperwork and bouncing between hope and despair - a miracle finally happened for Vanessa McGrady. Her sweet baby, Grace, was a dream come true. Then Vanessa made a highly uncommon gesture: when Grace's biological parents became homeless, Vanessa invited them to stay.

Without a blueprint for navigating the practical basics of an open adoption or any discussion of expectations or boundaries, the unusual living arrangement became a bottomless well of conflicting emotions and increasingly difficult decisions complicated by missed opportunities, regret, social chaos, and broken hearts.

Written with wit, candor, and compassion, Rock Needs River, ultimately, Vanessa's love letter to her daughter, one that illuminates the universal need for connect and the heroine's journey to find her tribe.

Review: I don't believe the synopsis above, provides an accurate overview of the book. This is Vanessa navigating life and relationships, along with her experiences as an adoptive mother. She could have gone a little deeper into some details, more brief on others, and been more introspective overall, but really, I enjoyed this. I'm just glad it's her life and not mine.

This book gave me a touch of anxiety. Not over the adoption, but just how "fly by the seat of her pants" the author is. It was a fast read. People lead interesting lives.