HALF A HEART

There is sure to be disruption and the raising of difficult emotional issues when a woman steps out from her comfortable, white, upper-middle-class life and seeks a reunion with the biracial daughter she gave up to be raised by the father alone. Carrington MacDuffie's narration brings out the mother's ambivalence and insecurities over past decisions. Setting aside her passion for being a mother and her convictions as a Civil Rights' activist, she had done what she had become convinced was best for her child, based on the reactions of her Jewish mother, the father's black activist friends, and the father himself. MacDuffie uses the attitudes of characters to good advantage, distinguishing them through personality, rather than relying on regional or ethnic accents. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 01]