Inter-country adoption: a new beginning

Abstract

Review of Ting-xing Ye's 2003 publication, Throwaway Daughter. London: Faber and Faber. Written by Ting-xing Ye, an established prize winning author, Throwaway Daughter is an account of Grace Dong-Mei Parker’s search for her identity as a Chinese born Canadian. Although classified as juvenile fiction, the book offers the adult reader an emotional journey into the many-sided triangle of inter-country adoption as well as an insight into the social and political upheavals of twentieth-century China, which form the backdrop for much of the work. The use of differing voices in each chapter allows the reader to explore the emotions, motivations and the roles the central characters played in Dong-Mei’s abandonment and adoption. The style of the work is both dramatic and touching and Ye immerses the reader in the emotional turmoil and unique cultural characteristics of inter-country adoption.