The Russian Word for Snow : A True Story of Adoption

From Booklist

Newman, following her mother's death from breast cancer, experienced a change of heart about her long-held determination to remain childless. She and her husband, both in their 40s, embarked on fertilization treatments until they discovered an agency that arranges the adoption of foreign children. Once they saw videotape of a dark-eyed little Russian boy, they were determined that he was their son and began a six-month process of international adoption. The couple traveled to Russia just before the nation's first democratic election and witnessed the uncertainties of life there, and the ebb and flow of anti-American sentiment. Fearful that political turmoil could derail their adoption, Newman and her husband desperately sought to achieve a balance between pressuring and cajoling their intermediaries. In this first-person account, Newman conveys the emotional roller coaster of dealing with the ponderous adoption bureaucracy--bribes expected and gifts required--before securing the release of their son, Alex, whose original name was the Russian word for snow. Vanessa Bush
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Review

"A nail-biting adoption saga with a happy ending."-People Magazine

"The Russian Word for Snow is about the alchemy of desire, courage, grace; about the buried secrets of a foreign land; about a little boy in a Russian crib who tangles his fingers in his new mother's hair. Their story is compelling. It is poetry. It is true. It held me transfixed as I read." -Beth Kephart, author of the 1998 National Book Award finalist A Slant of Sun
"The couple's fight to bring Alex home after months of dashed hopes and bureaucratic snafus vividly illustrates the perils of foreign adoption."--People Magazine
"Newman's story, told with understated grace, reminds us that parenthood is an internal journey not measurable by blood or footsteps; that life with a child is a daily opportunity for mutual redemption in moments both unique and fleeting." --Kate Moses, Salon.com columnist and co-editor of Mothers Who Think
"On one level, this is one woman's story of going to Russia to adopt a little boy and experiencing the wrenching, exuberant passions of falling love with a child. On another level, it's every mother's story--our doubts and our fears about what kind of mother we will make. The writing is compelling, and straight from the heart." --Adair Lara, San Francisco Chronicle columnist and author of Hold Me Close, Let Me Go
"Beautifully written, intimately portrayed, it's an extraordinary tale of the power of a mother's love." --Karin Evans, author of The Lost Daughters of China