Surrender: A Memoir of Nature, Nurture, and Love

Her young life changed in an instant. Now she shares her story with the child she gave away.

Adopted at birth, Marylee's parents told her she was a "chosen child." She tried her hardest to be a model daughter, but divorce sent her into the comforting arms of a handsome Catholic boy.

It's a familiar story. Romeo meets Juliet. She counts the hours till they meet again. Starry-eyed, she surrenders to passion.

And, here the story takes an unfortunate turn. The year was 1961. She was barely sixteen. Pregnant girls were sent away, and their babies given up for adoption.

Nature vs. nurture: Which plays a greater role in who we become? The family we were raised in, or the parents we never knew? Untangling these braided strands takes decades.

In telling her adult son the story of his birth, can the narrator find compassion for her own wounded inner child?

If you like truthful accounts laced with the passion of youth and the wisdom of age, read Marylee MacDonald's funny and poignant memoir about how we grow up, grow old, and learn to accept ourselves.