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The Birth Mother

Seymour Ubell

3.94 · Rating details · 32 ratings · 16 reviews

On a business trip, a high-powered fifty-six-year-old American entrepreneur visits his partners in China. After their meeting, his Asian mentor invites him to an orphanage, a trip that will change the course of his family’s life forever. Without hesitation, he and his wife fall in love with Anglo/Asian twin girls and become their adoptive parents. The children grow up in a

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Kindle Edition, 338 pages

Published September 17th 2019 by Archway Publishing

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Average rating 3.94 ·

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· 32 ratings · 16 reviews

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Feb 26, 2020 LAWonder10 rated it really liked it

This is an captivating, poignant story of overseas adoption by an American couple, of resilience, forgiveness, change, honor, customs, and even rape.
This compelling tale is unlike most anything one will read.
The "roller coaster" of emotions caused by various events will, certainly, keep the reader involved in this incredible story. (This reviewer is still unable to conclude, at the end of the story, if this is based on real events or totally fiction.) The unusual writing is what was distracting ...more

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Dec 31, 2019 Leila rated it it was amazing

This was not my ‘norm’ genre for reading. I am more of a romance, thriller, fantasy, paranormal… anything but just “adult fiction” genre reader. But, if you have followed my reviews, you know that I judge a book by the cover and the cover of this book spoke to me.

I do not regret for a nanosecond that I read this book. I highly enjoyed it and found myself completely immersed in the reading.

First and foremost, the author and the lead characters “arguments” made for an entertaining read. Being a fi This was not my ‘norm’ genre for reading. I am more of a romance, thriller, fantasy, paranormal… anything but just “adult fiction” genre reader. But, if you have followed my reviews, you know that I judge a book by the cover and the cover of this book spoke to me.

I do not regret for a nanosecond that I read this book. I highly enjoyed it and found myself completely immersed in the reading.

First and foremost, the author and the lead characters “arguments” made for an entertaining read. Being a fiction story, it was humorous that the author and the lead character were vying for who could tell what parts of the story. It definitely gave the book a more natural, more real aspect to it and definitely intrigued me.

The story was a full circle story. We followed a handful of different characters that were important to the plot – a young teenage Chinese girl who was sold by her father to a more prominent family as an employee; a successful and worldly businessman; the successful, worldly businessman’s wife and adopted twin daughters who were born in China; a Swiss business man with a family and terrible secret; the teenage girl’s brother who survived childhood illness; a business man who plays matchmaker. All of these characters play individual and vital roles to the story, but in the end, create a complete circle.

The end of the book had a lot of… spiritual/religious undertones, but in a sense that I had never thought of before. It definitely had me thinking, but at the same time, I did feel it was a little much. On the other hand, it made perfect sense and fit into the entire circle that was created throughout the story and while originally I did not think it had a place in the story; it most certainly did.

I cannot put into words how… amazed, I was with this read, with this story, with the characters, with the pieces that all fell into place to make this the story that it was. I really enjoyed The Birth Mother and highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a good, well written, adult fiction read. ...more

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Jan 02, 2020 Angela Thompson rated it it was amazing

The Birth Mother Tells a Heartwarming, Heartbreaking, Hopeful Story. This novel crosses time, continents, and cultures to tell a family's story. With a unique storytelling tone and the use of multiple points of view, the author creates a piece that tells all sides of the whole story. I enjoyed the characters and their various challenges--and I enjoyed moving between the twins' families to learn their story as the "biography" unfolded.

The author made a complex story easy to read. There are a nu ...more

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Jan 09, 2020 Debbie Smith rated it it was amazing

Shelves: iread-book-tour, adult-fiction

The unique way the book starts out had me on my toes, flipping from this page to that and rereading one particular statement. But in a short time, I caught on to the author’s sense of humor, or desire to create a different type of story.

The book covers so much regarding various cultures, families, women’s rights, religion, attitudes, and more. The characters and dialog feel very defined and believable. There are unique breaks in the story, that I will let you discover, that for me kept the book ...more

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Dec 29, 2019 Grace Ann rated it it was amazing

A non-fiction book that portrays a lot about life's realities and human

The book,
'The Birth Mother'
survival.

There is much in this story that struck me emotionally. The characters in the story have their own intimate experiences that caused them to change and emerge into better versions of themselves. I guess they owe it to their adopted families who understood and supported them as well as influenced them in a positive way.

How painful is it for parents to sell their children for money? I was move ...more

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Jan 02, 2020 Amy rated it it was amazing

Seymour Ubell’s The Birth Mother is a unique read and an excellent debut novel. I found this well written story to be one that held my attention until from start to finish. I was pleasantly surprised how engaged I was throughout reading this. I had no problem reading the whole book in one sitting. It was so worth spending those hours with these characters and their tale.
The Birth Mother tells the story of an American man doing business in China. After visiting an orphanage, he finds himself fal ...more

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Dec 27, 2019 BreeAnn (She Just Loves Books) rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemporary

What I Loved: The intertwining story of the twin’s lives with their birth mother’s story was beautiful. I loved the way the tale was woven together, jumping from one piece of the story to the next. It kept me so interested!

How I Felt: The Birth Mother is a beautifully written story with excellent research and information about the locations making the book come alive for the reader! I was so invested in the stories! The birth mother’s story had me gripped from the moment I found out her parents What I Loved: The intertwining story of the twin’s lives with their birth mother’s story was beautiful. I loved the way the tale was woven together, jumping from one piece of the story to the next. It kept me so interested!

How I Felt: The Birth Mother is a beautifully written story with excellent research and information about the locations making the book come alive for the reader! I was so invested in the stories! The birth mother’s story had me gripped from the moment I found out her parents were selling her to save their son. I appreciated the statements the book is making on the roles of a female within each country’s culture (and religion). It is not overstated, but you see it within the Chinese portion of the story with the treatment of the birth mother and the orphanage’s lack of boy babies. In America, it is so obvious just from the relationship of the adoptive parents. The religious beliefs are fleshed out thoroughly as you complete the book, giving explanation to why God is a She. I found this to be a great overarching theme through the book and I appreciated the Ah-Ha moment as things were explained towards the end.

The writing style in this book felt so unique. Daryl is having a biography completed for his family so at times, the biographer is telling the story, but then Daryl just can’t contain his excitement and he takes over for portions of their family history. I found it endearing, and their relationship was another trait from this book that had me captivated.

Content Warning: A rape scene that is not graphic but could be a trigger for some people. Discussion of birth and babies.

To Read or Not To Read: I would recommend this book to any reader that enjoys a book surrounding family. The book is well-written, and the story moved quickly. I highly recommend The Birth Mother to anyone that loves a dramatic story with endearing characters.

This review will post on my blog on Jan 8, 2020. All of my reviews can be found at: https://shejustlovesbooks.com/ ...more

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Jan 08, 2020 Nimi rated it really liked it

The Birth Mother has multiple stories interwoven with one another, intersecting once in a while, but leaving a huge impact when they do.

From the adoption of a pair of twins in China by an American couple to the contrasting life of a Chinese couple, and much more, there are many instances of the disparities of the way of life between those from different countries or financial status, etc. However, the similarity of emotions is the common thread that binds all.
But certain emotions and relationshi ...more

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Jan 07, 2020 Michelle Garrett rated it it was amazing

First things first, The Birth Mother took me on all kinds of unexpected highs and lows. This was not the book I expected to read when I was first asked to read and review it for my website. I was pleasantly surprised and read it through in one sitting. I love those kinds of surprises.

While the plot seems to be an unbelievable stretch, it becomes so believably possible. There are so many layers to this story of love and acceptance that spans cultures and continents. I found myself on the edge of ...more

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Jan 07, 2020 Marilyn Wilson rated it really liked it

The Birth Mother is an interesting read. The way the intro is written and the story told (supposedly switching between the author's voice and the adoptive father's voice) implies the book shares a true story. However, it is actually fiction, based on multiple true incidents from the author's many years spent in Asia. You can read more about this in my interview with the author at the link below.

This book is full of coincidences. The cast of characters include many people living in widely differe ...more

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Jan 10, 2020 Jessica rated it it was amazing

The most compelling book I read to start the year

What a fantastic year to start as a bookworm after reading this book. It is the most compelling book I read so far and during the past years. I cannot remember how many times I have goosebumps while reading this book. It is so remarkable. If I could rate this story in 10 stars, I would.

There is one scene that triggers me. I knew I already had a warning, but have to get through that brutal scene. It was not easy but I did read that scene. Adoptio ...more

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Dec 13, 2019 Beth Ann Ditkoff rated it it was amazing

The Birth Mother is a fictional account of an older American couple who adopt twin Chinese infant girls. The focus of the novel is not about the children, but rather their adoptive and biological parents. Told through alternating perspectives, both in the USA and China, the story twists through the birth mother's life events as well as the adoptive parents' experiences. The book is layered with interesting themes of cultural differences between China and the USA, and various religious viewpoints ...more

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Sep 09, 2020 Suzanne Rheiner rated it liked it

This story was easy to read and entertaining. It was a bit saccharine and Hallmark ish as another reader pointed out. One thing that did bother me is the the Americans spoke in exactly the same tone (I’m not too familiar with writer terminology so I’m not sure I am using this correctly) as the Asians. This just did not ring genuine to me. No matter how well spoken your average American is they are not going to sound as if his words were translated from anther language. I would recommend it to ce ...more

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May 21, 2020 Denise Hatcher rated it really liked it

This is such a captivating book that forced me to think about the story, my life, and my reactions as I read it. Would I be as accepting if my parents had “sold” me as a fifteen year old? Why do some cultures still value men so much more than others? Who are the “good” people in my life? I am thankful to have had this book recommended to me.

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Mar 01, 2020 Jessica rated it it was ok

Fantasy romance in international settings... everyone ends up wealthy... and after a little scare, healthy too. Very traditional gender roles where men are extremely successful at business and women are praised for their intuition and beautiful homes

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May 12, 2020 Alice Yoder rated it it was ok

Either Seymour is a bad writer or he had a bad editor. Either way, I was not understanding after I found an incomplete sentence on the very first page. Come on, guys, do a better job.

Too many coincidences in this book for it to be believable. It read like a "Hallmark" book to me.

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