95 - The Red Thread; Ann Hood

I just finished listening to, The Red Thread by Ann Hood and was quite pleased. The narrator was Hilary Huber, and she did an excellent job.  In case you are not familiar with this novel, it is a story about five couples from the Providence, Rhode Island area, who are brought together by their desire to adopt a Chinese baby with the assistance of the Red Thread Adoption Agency, founded by Maya Lange. Maya too has her own story, having lost a baby that she blames herself for, it also ended her marriage.

The "Red Thread" is a Chinese belief that children are tied to all the people that will play a part in their lives by an invisible "red thread". Throughout the novel the reader learns more and more about the American couples and their circumstances. In fact the couples, through this process begin to bond, socialize, and by the end of the novel, these couples even journey to China together to pick up their baby girls who are all about (9) months old. I thought it was interesting that the babies are selected for them, not by them.

The stories of the Chinese women/parents of the babies given up for adoption are woven into these stories as well. Their stories are touching and sad at times.  In China female babies are not valued, especially since Chinese sons have a duty to care for aged parents, so by that standard, baby girls are a disadvantage.  Some women are pressured to give their baby girls up for adoption so they can try again for a son.  Sadly, each year approximately 150,000 baby girls are given up for adoption with the (1) child only policy enforced in China.

Although the Red Thread is a work of fiction, it had a ring of truth to it and the international adoption process .  The author, Ann Hood, lost her own little girl when she was about five years of age, and she had adopted a baby girl from China with the help of Maya's Adoption Agency.  Although some of the couples seemed to have issues that made me wonder if they were good candidates for adoption,, in the end I thought that this was a wonderful story. This story should leave you with a feeling of hope and happiness for both child and parent.

RECOMMENDED - 4.5/5 stars

Library Audio Book