Ten Thousand Sorrows is the story of a sad life, presented without any attempt to put it into context as an unusually traumatic adoption experience. I believe my adoption experience is not unique to me. I am also thankful for the loving family that I was to become a part of. I, too, hold the memory of my birth mother and our time together with tenderness and love. Unfortunately, it has clearly colored how she views Korea and adoption in general. The lens through which Kim sees her early life, and the years that follow, is indeed sorrowful. I expect that I will never know most of the details of those early years. Although my age and circumstances were similar, my memories of Korea are vague. I am also curious about the vividness of Kim’s memories of her early life. While the book is beautifully written, there is a disturbing lack of authenticity to some of the passages, creating an uneasy sense that the author has probed only superficially into issues of Korean heritage and culture. Children adopted internationally nowadays benefit enormously from those of us who were adopted before them. I am troubled, though, that this book implies that adoption is generally a negative experience and does not acknowledge the full range of experiences of adult adoptees, or the reality that significant lessons have been learned from those experiences. I have had my share of those feelings as well. There are real issues of loss and grief and, for some of us, deep pain and sadness. As I read her book, though, it did not resonate with me as I had expected.Īlthough I am a passionate supporter of inter-country adoption and have had a positive adoption experience, I also am firmly committed to the idea that adoption is bittersweet. When I first heard of it, I was thrilled at the prospect of reading about the life of someone who shared something so fundamental with me.

Ten Thousand Sorrows, by Elizabeth Kim, is the memoir of a Korean adoptee.

Ten Thousand Sorrows by Elizabeth Kim