Inconvenient Daughter

By Lauren J. Sharkey

A vibrant and provocative debut novel that dispels myths surrounding transracial adoption.

Inconvenient Daughter is a finalist for Foreword Review's 2020 INDIES Book of the Year Award in Adult Fiction – Multicultural!

"A transracial Korean adoptee works through identity questions and the aftereffects of abuse in search of self-acceptance."
--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"In Sharkey's stirring...debut, a transracial adoptee of Korean descent endures a crisis of identity...Sharkey achieves a moving account of Rowan's difficult reckoning with her identity. This is an adept portrayal of the long shadow of abuse and the difficulty of being an adoptee."
--Publishers Weekly

"This debut novel vividly details the awkwardness of high school and heartbreak of rejection. Rowan's first-person narrative voice provides sharp, devastating emotional insight."
--Kirkus Reviews

Included in The Rumpus's What to Read When You Want to Celebrate Women's History

Rowan Kelly knows she's lucky. After all, if she hadn't been adopted, she could have spent her days in a rice paddy, or a windowless warehouse assembling iPhones--they make iPhones in Korea, right? Either way, slowly dying of boredom on Long Island is surely better than the alternative. But as she matures, she realizes that she'll never know if she has her mother's eyes, or if she'd be in America at all had her adoptive parents been able to conceive.

Rowan sets out to prove that she can be someone's first choice. After running away from home--and her parents' rules--and ending up beaten, barefoot, and topless on a Pennsylvania street courtesy of Bad Boy Number One, Rowan attaches herself to Never-Going-to-Commit. When that doesn't work out, she fully abandons self-respect and begins browsing Craigslist personals. But as Rowan dives deeper into the world of casual encounters with strangers, she discovers what she's really looking for.

With a fresh voice and a quick wit, Lauren J. Sharkey dispels the myths surrounding transracial adoption, the ties that bind, and what it means to belong.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kaylie Jones Books
• Release date: Jun 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781617758379

Lauren J. Sharkey

LAUREN J. SHARKEY is a writer, teacher, and transracial adoptee. After her birth in South Korea, she was adopted by Irish Catholic parents and raised on Long Island. Sharkey’s creative nonfiction has appeared in the Asian American Feminist Collective’s digital storytelling project, First Times, as well as several anthologies including I Am Strength! and Women under Scrutiny. Inconvenient Daughter is her debut novel, and is loosely based on her experience as a Korean adoptee. You can follow her at ljsharks.com.

Reviews for Inconvenient Daughter

[pinklady60 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An adopted Korean teenage girl runs away from home and, while trying to fit into her Caucasian family and feel accepted, continually chooses the wrong boyfriends and ends up in many casual encounters and abusive relationships.This book begins as a rather humorous young adult book, but gradually deals with emotional and complex issues of self-esteem. To make the story flow a little more smoothly, I would have appreciated a more in-depth look at the relationship between Rowan and her mother.

[christiana5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received this book from the Early Reviewers program in exchange for an honest review. This is the author's debut novel, and she notes that it's loosely based on her own experiences. She's a good writer, and her story is raw and honest, and more than a little disturbing. She was adopted from Korea by a white family on Long Island, and spent much of her teens and early twenties trying to work through her feelings about her "BioMom" having given her up. Her initial efforts at this largely consisted of rebelling against her adoptive mother, engaging in relationships with abusive men, and seeking out casual encounters, much of which were quite painful to read about. The ending implies, but doesn't clearly explicate, that she found her way to more effective and positive ways to cope with her feelings, and I certainly hope she did. Well written, but not an (emotionally) easy read.

[jsbancroft · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to like this book much more than I did. The portions of the book dealing with the protagonist's feelings of self-doubt and lack of belonging as a result of her "BioMom" giving her up for adoption were honest and heartfelt. The protagonist's feelings of loneliness and not fitting in in middle school and high school were heart-breakingly real. I was less engaged by the portions of the book where she tries first to find love and then to prove to herself how worthless she is through abusive relationships and meaningless sex. I thought the book dealt honestly with issues of emotional partner abuse, and the trauma of sexual abuse.***I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.***

[brangwinn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rowan only knows life living in suburban Long Island, but everyone seems to identify her as Korean. She was adopted from Korea by her Catholic parents and knows nothing of Korea. She worries that she’s never been wanted, and like a teenager doesn’t know how to deal with that other than by isolating herself from those who care about her. The first-person narrative does an excellent job in portraying roan’s loneliness and search for identity. It seems a little uneven and that is distracting.

[mel927 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A sad tale of a Korean child adopted into a loving Irish Catholic family, but she can never accept that she is worthy of love. I read it in one sitting.

[3bythesea · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I found this book a little disappointing. The issue of transracial adoption is interesting, however the exploration of it fell short for me. Why is exploring her biological parents roots and her country of birth of less interest to this character than others? Why are negative relationships with men her response rather than other behaviors? None of this is clear and makes it harder to care about Rowan. While the author's style is engaging the plot/characters were almost but not quite there.