Plume; 2015

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After stints as a drug addict and a member of the Prince of Brunei’s harem (really) in her youth, Jillian Lauren marries a rock star — and sets out to start a family. “To be so unwanted and so wanted at the same time can carve a fault line in you,” writes Lauren about being adopted herself as an infant. “I expect motherhood to finally unite this duality.” We accompany the couple as they struggle through infertility and the adoption process, then help their little boy heal from trauma and tune their parenting to his special needs. This memoir is compulsively readable and full of humor and heart. Read an excerpt and author Q&A.