The Girl with the Orange Dress

Author: Margot Starbuck

One-sentence summary: A woman struggles to come to terms with her adoption, an absentee biological father, and feeling unloved.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 5

Our favorite thing about it: It was a little bit of a chore for us to pick a “favorite” thing, but we finally decided that we liked the sometimes witty writing of the author as well as the touching parts about her sweet grandmother.

Our least favorite thing about it: Hands down, we all disliked how much the author harped on her problems in a way that we felt was very overdone.

Main Topics of Discussion: Relationships, Parents, Abandonment, Isolation, Seeking, Contentment, Self Help, Ministry, Love

Our favorite quote: “Though my head and my heart were certain of God’s extravagant love, my deep insides had no idea.”

Notes: Unanimously, we were all a bit put off by the overall tone of the book, which was the author working through her feelings surrounding her adoption as a baby…ad nauseum. It got annoying to listen to her complain about the same things over and over again and not ever seem to be able to move past them. We wondered at the infinite patience of her husband to be able to put up with her frail emotions over finding her birth parents and establishing a relationship with them…or not. She constantly felt very unloved, but it seemed to us that she did not (at least in the book) acknowledge the people in her life that did love her. We wondered why a biological father, who was not even aware of her existence at first, would derail a grown woman to such a degree. We also wondered how she was able to minister effectively with her often paralyzing emotions. Overall, we just didn’t relate to the author, which did not draw us into the book at all.

Memorable Meeting Moments: From abroad, Amberly treated us to a meal out, and we celebrated Becky’s birthday with books, cake…and funny cards!

What We Ate: Samui Thai Cuisine and Peanut Butter Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.