The Lost Daughters of China by Karin Evans Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Lost Daughters of China
Book Review: The best book for 1st hand info on adopting from China!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this book! I am waiting to adopt from China and have already read the book twice. I am buying copies of it for my parents and my in-laws. I hope everyone in my family will read it before my child arrives. It is a great resource from someone who has been through the experience of adopting from China. WONDERFUL! Insightful, interesting, and informative! I wish she would right another one!Book Review: Disappointing
Summary: 1 Stars
This book is actually two stories in one: First, it's a personal memoir of Evans' own adoption. Second, it's a study of the plight of abandoned children who (if they're lucky) end up in China's orphanages and get placed in loving homes. The latter is truly a masterpiece of investigative reporting, and I heartily recommend those sections to anyone seeking to understand the cultural issues surrounding China's "one child" rule. However, in her memoir portions, the author comes across as highly eccentric and spiritually confused. As just one example, Evans describes how she built a small shrine for her as-yet-to-be-identified daughter. Sadly, her peculiar views seriously undercut the author's credibility in the investigative sections of the book. Even worse, the two themes are often so blended together that readers who are only interested in the history of Chinese adoption are forced to wade through page after page of Evans' personal ramblings to get to the meat of the book. Christian readers in particular are advised that they may find much about Evans' worldview disturbing, as she feebly attempts to merge just about every religion in the world into some sort of explanation of how her family was destined to come together.Book Review: Heartwrenching Yet Inspiring...
Summary: 5 Stars
...That's how I would describe this wonderful book. My heart ached at the stories the author told (both real and supposition on her part). As a woman and mother, I wept for the facts, statistics and harsh realities. As a parent about to adopt internationally, it galvanized my spirit and buried my misgivings. This book is not a how-to manual. It will not instruct you on when to tell your child about adoption, how to do it, or how to handle potential problems of race, identity, attachment, etc. What it WILL do, however, is touch your soul, and--hopefully--bring you the kind of emotional clarity I found after reading it. For that reason alone, it should be a part of every human being's library.
I even gave this book to my mom, hoping she might gain some insight to my feelings about wanting to adopt internationally. She LOVED the book and couldn't put it down.
Book Review: Recommended but...
Summary: 3 Stars
I found the book to be well researched, written, and quite informative but, as with all non-fiction books, by the time it is written, published and marketed things change. I feel that it does not currently reflect the situations or the social changes that have happened in China in relation to adoption, the one child policy and orphanages, since it was written. I am not suggesting that everything is wonderful, just that they have improved significantly.
I think it would be great if she re-edited the book noting the current changes. While it would still be sad and heartwarming, I believe that it would give a much more positive view.
Book Review: A fantastic book!
Summary: 5 Stars
This well-written, well-researched book has the additional advantage of coming from the heart. Karin Evans has written a book that will inform you as it makes you weep for the babies, their birth mothers and fathers, and those of us waiting to adopt our own daughter. I gave this book to all my relatives (and my husband) to help them understand the process that I've called our journey of joy, as well as to give them a clearer understanding of why China has so many girls to adopt out. I agree with one re viewer's comment that the book sometimes seems disorganized. But this is a minor complaint compared to the value the book brings. I plan to keep this in our library for our daughter to read as she grows into a young adult and wants to better understand her origins.I would recommend this book as the first purchase for anyone considering adoption, and for those who love them.a