Andrea Ross was once a park service ranger and wilderness guide and now teaches writing at University of California, Davis. Her work can be found in Ploughshares, Terrain, the Café Review, and on the Dirtbag Diaries Podcast. She lives in Davis, California with her husband and son.
Ross has written a fascinating book. It is a wonderfully told adventure of guiding others into the natural wonders of climbing mountains, descending into canyons, crossing deserts, and fording rivers. At the same time it is the weaving together the wilderness of adoption with its traumatic loss of the first mother, living with genetic strangers, the roadblocks in the way of being able to connect with biological relatives, and finally finding her birth parents and her roots. It is a journey of discovering the meaning of family, our relationship with all humanity, and with Mother Earth. Beautifully written. A must-read! -- Nancy Verrier, author of 'The Primal Wound' and 'Coming Home to Self'