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The English American
When Pippa Dunn, adopted as an infant and raised to be terribly British, discovers that her birth parents are from the American South, she finds that "culture clash" has layers of meaning she'd never imagined. Meet The English American, a fabulously funny, deeply poignant debut novel that sprang from Larkin's autobiographical one-woman show of the same name.
In many ways, Pippa Dunn is very English: she eats Marmite on toast, knows how to make a proper cup of tea, has attended a posh English boarding school, and finds it entirely familiar to discuss the crossword rather than exchange any cross words over dinner with her proper English family. Yet Pippa -- creative, disheveled, and impulsive to the core -- has always felt different from her perfectly poised, smartly coiffed sister and steady, practical parents, whose pastimes include Scottish dancing, gardening, and watching cricket.
When Pippa learns at age twenty-eight that her birth parents are from the American South, she feels that lifelong questions have been answered. She meets her birth mother, an untidy, artistic, free-spirited redhead, and her birth father, a charismatic (and politically involved) businessman in Washington, D.C.; and she moves to America to be near them. At the same time, she relies on the guidance of a young man with whom she feels a mysterious connection; a man who discovered his own estranged father and who, like her birth parents, seems to understand her in a way that no one in her life has done before. Pippa feels she has found her "self" and everything she thought she wanted. But has she?
Caught between two opposing cultures, two sets of parents, and two completely different men, Pippa is plunged into hilarious, heart-wrenching chaos. The birth father she adores turns out to be involved in neoconservative activities she hates; the mesmerizing mother who once abandoned her now refuses to let her go. And the man of her fantasies may be just that...
With an authentic adopted heroine at its center, Larkin's compulsively readable first novel unearths universal truths about love, identity, and family with wit, warmth, and heart.
In many ways, Pippa Dunn is very English: she eats Marmite on toast, knows how to make a proper cup of tea, has attended a posh English boarding school, and finds it entirely familiar to discuss the crossword rather than exchange any cross words over dinner with her proper English family. Yet Pippa -- creative, disheveled, and impulsive to the core -- has always felt different from her perfectly poised, smartly coiffed sister and steady, practical parents, whose pastimes include Scottish dancing, gardening, and watching cricket.
When Pippa learns at age twenty-eight that her birth parents are from the American South, she feels that lifelong questions have been answered. She meets her birth mother, an untidy, artistic, free-spirited redhead, and her birth father, a charismatic (and politically involved) businessman in Washington, D.C.; and she moves to America to be near them. At the same time, she relies on the guidance of a young man with whom she feels a mysterious connection; a man who discovered his own estranged father and who, like her birth parents, seems to understand her in a way that no one in her life has done before. Pippa feels she has found her "self" and everything she thought she wanted. But has she?
Caught between two opposing cultures, two sets of parents, and two completely different men, Pippa is plunged into hilarious, heart-wrenching chaos. The birth father she adores turns out to be involved in neoconservative activities she hates; the mesmerizing mother who once abandoned her now refuses to let her go. And the man of her fantasies may be just that...
With an authentic adopted heroine at its center, Larkin's compulsively readable first novel unearths universal truths about love, identity, and family with wit, warmth, and heart.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published March 4, 2008
48 people are currently reading
833 people want to read
About the author
Alison Larkin
191 books49 followersAlison Larkin was adopted at birth in the US by British parents and raised in Washington DC, England and Africa. After graduating from the University of London and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, she wrote plays and became a regular on the British stage. Then she moved to America and became a successful stand-up comic and ubiquitous voice artist who has appeared on Broadway. Her internationally acclaimed one woman show, The English American, from which her novel springs, was a wildly popular sold-out hit in England, a highlight of the London Comedy Festival and has been seen in concert performance all over the world. She lives in Northern New Jersey with her husband and two young children. Visit her website at www.alisonlarkin.com"
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 369 reviews
August 3, 2022
I enjoyed reading this book, but there was some parts of the book that I found boring. I am glad I read it overall.
August 6, 2009
This was a good book for a vacation, I guess, but despite my wanting a light read, I just couldn't get past the standard chick lit cliches and forced humor.
Pippa Dunn is an adoptee from the U.S. raised in a British home. Although her adoptive family is appropriately loving, she feels she has never fit in, and at 28, goes on an odyssey to meet her American birth parents. This premise is a convenient excuse for the tired old British vs. American jokes (English = emotionally constipated; American = too much information; English = tea as a science; American = tea as instant, etc.), and I found the idea of not fitting in as an adoptee because you're genetically programmed to be a loud, boisterous, clumsy American as opposed to a delicate Brit just a wee bit contrived. Not to mention the standard chick lit cliche, namely, the guy she's passionate about is really a jerk, and guess what? The steady guy who was a "friend" all along actually secretly likes her, and you know what? Now that she realizes that, she realizes that she likes him too! Oh, please. Can we say...predictable? Even for a vacation read, this just didn't do it for me.
Pippa Dunn is an adoptee from the U.S. raised in a British home. Although her adoptive family is appropriately loving, she feels she has never fit in, and at 28, goes on an odyssey to meet her American birth parents. This premise is a convenient excuse for the tired old British vs. American jokes (English = emotionally constipated; American = too much information; English = tea as a science; American = tea as instant, etc.), and I found the idea of not fitting in as an adoptee because you're genetically programmed to be a loud, boisterous, clumsy American as opposed to a delicate Brit just a wee bit contrived. Not to mention the standard chick lit cliche, namely, the guy she's passionate about is really a jerk, and guess what? The steady guy who was a "friend" all along actually secretly likes her, and you know what? Now that she realizes that, she realizes that she likes him too! Oh, please. Can we say...predictable? Even for a vacation read, this just didn't do it for me.
June 7, 2008
This should have been a good book, based on its premise of an American-born girl being adopted and raised by British parents, then returning to the U.S. to meet her birth parents.
Unfortunately, the birth mother was so disgusting a character - a total liar, utterly selfish, hateful and unfair towards some people and a true user of others - that I could hardly stomach the book. Also, although described by both birth parents as a product of a "great love", Pippa (the adopted girl) was actually the product of merely a great lust.
Had Pippa come to the realization that love was modeled by her adoptive parents but not her birth parents, I might have liked the book better. But in the end, she thinks of how much her birth parents had loved each other and that made me feel a bit ill.
I would not have finished this book had it not been chosen by a reading group I am in. As it is, I am glad I did not waste money buying a copy. I look forward to returning it to the library first thing on Monday.
Unfortunately, the birth mother was so disgusting a character - a total liar, utterly selfish, hateful and unfair towards some people and a true user of others - that I could hardly stomach the book. Also, although described by both birth parents as a product of a "great love", Pippa (the adopted girl) was actually the product of merely a great lust.
Had Pippa come to the realization that love was modeled by her adoptive parents but not her birth parents, I might have liked the book better. But in the end, she thinks of how much her birth parents had loved each other and that made me feel a bit ill.
I would not have finished this book had it not been chosen by a reading group I am in. As it is, I am glad I did not waste money buying a copy. I look forward to returning it to the library first thing on Monday.
November 17, 2012
What did I think? I loved it! It's been a long time since I laughed and cried while reading a book.
This is a wonderfully poignant, engaging novel about a woman's personal growth. After 10 or so years of dating, Pippa Dunn, 28, realizes that she can't love another until she knows and loves herself. Pippa Dunn's story of the search for her birth parents is thoroughly enchanting and amazing.
Like the main character, the author was born in Amercia and was adopted and raised in England.
I urge you to listen to this on your iPod or iPhone or CD player or MP3 player. The book was read by the author herself and it was a pleasure listening to her fine British accent. Alison Larkin lives in Great Barrington, Massachusetts and has been performing this story in a one-woman show which may be developed for TV.
This is a wonderfully poignant, engaging novel about a woman's personal growth. After 10 or so years of dating, Pippa Dunn, 28, realizes that she can't love another until she knows and loves herself. Pippa Dunn's story of the search for her birth parents is thoroughly enchanting and amazing.
Like the main character, the author was born in Amercia and was adopted and raised in England.
I urge you to listen to this on your iPod or iPhone or CD player or MP3 player. The book was read by the author herself and it was a pleasure listening to her fine British accent. Alison Larkin lives in Great Barrington, Massachusetts and has been performing this story in a one-woman show which may be developed for TV.
September 23, 2017
This book had such a strong start, I was laughing and attached to the main character within pages, certain it was going to be a new favourite. Unfortunately, there were some inconsistencies with the main character that I struggled with, and I was wanting the book to focus on a few relationships more deeply, rather than many superficially. Despite these shortfalls, I enjoyed the main storyline of the book, that being an adopted woman raised by a privileged English family who finds herself living in America trying to fit in with her biological family.
Britains famous 'Bridget Jones' could easily fit into this novel, because the wit and humour are a similar fit.
Britains famous 'Bridget Jones' could easily fit into this novel, because the wit and humour are a similar fit.
April 15, 2008
As an American who has always felt very much "at home" in British literature, I've always though of myself as an "English American" of another sort. I purchased the book after listening to an interview with the author on an XM radio show. Ms. Larkin sounded very clever and witty, and I had high hopes for the book, but was disappointed and abandoned it at about 2/3 of the way through. (My New Year's resolution is to quit wasting time finishing frivolous books that are giving me no pleasure; classics are excepted from this rule). "The English American" was overly plot-driven, the setting and character development thin, at best. This made the narrative choppy and meaningless. While the author made attempt at getting into Pippa's head, mostly through the letters to her friend, the effort came across as just that-effort. I was also put-off by the political tones. Ms. Larkin just casually dropped her own beliefs into the narrative, in off-hand comments, with no explanation as to why Pippa had those beliefs. If you're going to include so much about Pippa's political beliefs, you have to explain why Pippa holds those beliefs. If they're really just the author's beliefs, then the author should be writing a memoir or political piece.
February 24, 2014
The English American (a review by Karen O¿Keefe and Lynn Grubb)
As published (in part) in the Union Jack News, June 2008.
As a reunited adoptee, I could strongly relate to Pippa Dunn--a creative and "appallingly untidy" English girl searching for the missing pieces of her identity. Her discovery at the age of 15 that her birth parents are American, coupled with her lifelong desire to unmask her fantasy birth parents into real humans, is best described by Pippa herself: "There's a natural law with secrets. It's the same law that applies to kettles. If you block the ventilation hole, there will, eventually, be an explosion."
After breaking up with a boyfriend chosen for the purpose of security, Pippa impulsively contacts the adoption agency in America. A kind social worker, whose hands are tied by the US closed adoption laws, informs Pippa that her birth mother wants to be contacted, but the laws bar her from revealing her birth mother's identity. Refusing to be thwarted, Pippa hires an independent investigator to locate her birth mother--a bigger-than-life lady with southern charm and a talent for manipulation. As Pippa is transplanted from her beloved England to America, she finds herself betwixt and between two worlds where she learns to embrace the monsters under her bed and the shock and elation of self-discovery.
The author's description of how it feels to be adopted was right-on-the-money. Adoption issues such as abandonment, loyalty, fear of rejection, and deep-seated feelings of being different will strike chords with adoptive families everywhere. I found myself riding up and down the rollercoaster of Pippa's emotions as she took in each piece of her history. I especially applauded the way Pippa's parents were portrayed: as empathetic guides who supported Pippa in her search, without pressing their own feelings and needs to the forefront.
We Agreed
This book is a "must read" for adopted and non-adopted people alike¿and it should be required reading for adoptive parents! The English American was published in hardback by Simon and Schuster in March of 2008.
You can find more information about Alison Larkin at http://www.alisonlarkin.net
As published (in part) in the Union Jack News, June 2008.
As a reunited adoptee, I could strongly relate to Pippa Dunn--a creative and "appallingly untidy" English girl searching for the missing pieces of her identity. Her discovery at the age of 15 that her birth parents are American, coupled with her lifelong desire to unmask her fantasy birth parents into real humans, is best described by Pippa herself: "There's a natural law with secrets. It's the same law that applies to kettles. If you block the ventilation hole, there will, eventually, be an explosion."
After breaking up with a boyfriend chosen for the purpose of security, Pippa impulsively contacts the adoption agency in America. A kind social worker, whose hands are tied by the US closed adoption laws, informs Pippa that her birth mother wants to be contacted, but the laws bar her from revealing her birth mother's identity. Refusing to be thwarted, Pippa hires an independent investigator to locate her birth mother--a bigger-than-life lady with southern charm and a talent for manipulation. As Pippa is transplanted from her beloved England to America, she finds herself betwixt and between two worlds where she learns to embrace the monsters under her bed and the shock and elation of self-discovery.
The author's description of how it feels to be adopted was right-on-the-money. Adoption issues such as abandonment, loyalty, fear of rejection, and deep-seated feelings of being different will strike chords with adoptive families everywhere. I found myself riding up and down the rollercoaster of Pippa's emotions as she took in each piece of her history. I especially applauded the way Pippa's parents were portrayed: as empathetic guides who supported Pippa in her search, without pressing their own feelings and needs to the forefront.
We Agreed
This book is a "must read" for adopted and non-adopted people alike¿and it should be required reading for adoptive parents! The English American was published in hardback by Simon and Schuster in March of 2008.
You can find more information about Alison Larkin at http://www.alisonlarkin.net
June 14, 2012
Well, Alison, how many months has it taken me to get started on this? In my defense, I've been reading books on meditation for a training I did at Kripalu, and as a follow up to figure out how that training applies to me, personally.
Once I let myself pick it up, I barely put it down.
"I think it's one of the saddest things in the world -- don't you? -- when people are upset because the direction they're going in feels all wrong for you -- and you know you just have to go the opposite way."
It touched me, made me laugh and made me think. For what more could I ask?
I should have known you are a fellow slob. I could tell right away there was something I like about you beyond your quick wit and charming demeanor. Must have been the crumbs of vegan kale something or other all over your sweater when I met you killing time in the dining hall before your massage.
The downside, is that the meditation books do a very good job of lulling me to sleep. I was up most of the night finishing this one. Sucked me right in.
Thank you. I look forward to the next one.
Once I let myself pick it up, I barely put it down.
"I think it's one of the saddest things in the world -- don't you? -- when people are upset because the direction they're going in feels all wrong for you -- and you know you just have to go the opposite way."
It touched me, made me laugh and made me think. For what more could I ask?
I should have known you are a fellow slob. I could tell right away there was something I like about you beyond your quick wit and charming demeanor. Must have been the crumbs of vegan kale something or other all over your sweater when I met you killing time in the dining hall before your massage.
The downside, is that the meditation books do a very good job of lulling me to sleep. I was up most of the night finishing this one. Sucked me right in.
Thank you. I look forward to the next one.
August 25, 2014
Not only is it completely hillarious, but it actually deals with some serious issues of identity that adults who were adopted as children face. What makes this story different from most adoption stories is her comedic ability. This is actually a memoir that she uses in her standup comedy routines. i find her ability to do this psychologically healthy and beautiful. I laughed and cried and sometimes at the same time! Bravo to her and her expressive abilities. it's entertaining, and also therapeutic.
November 13, 2017
This book is utterly charming and a great audiobook. The narration is perfect. Having lived in North America for many years and now in England, the characters' idiosyncrasies are recognisable and real. You can see the ending coming from a mile away but that doesn't detract in the least from enjoying the rest of the book. A lovely break from the type of book I usually read.
February 24, 2022
As this audio book was read by the author I was confused about whether it was a true story!
Then I couldn't get my head round whether it was supposed to be a comedy or not.
It starts off very serious but then we meet the American family and they are all crazy with addictions and issues.
The main character is 29 and seems to have no proper career, relationship and cries all the time!!!!
However it did make me feel that my own mother was not as annoying and manipulative with an art in guilt tripping me!!!
Then I couldn't get my head round whether it was supposed to be a comedy or not.
It starts off very serious but then we meet the American family and they are all crazy with addictions and issues.
The main character is 29 and seems to have no proper career, relationship and cries all the time!!!!
However it did make me feel that my own mother was not as annoying and manipulative with an art in guilt tripping me!!!
February 18, 2011
Pretty disappointed in this book. I really wanted to like it; I'm a total Anglophile so this book's premise was very appealing. It started off well, but became bogged down in over-the-top characters whose personalities overshadowed the story, or what story there was.
The book is about a young woman nicknamed Pippa who was adopted from America at birth by a British couple who thought they couldn't have kids (but wound up having a birth daughter a year later after the adoption.) Because she always felt so different from them, and wants desperately to feel like she belongs, Pippa seeks out her birth Mom and Dad in America.
Her Mom turns out to be an eccentric artist type whom Pippa initially feels she can relate to more personality-wise, while her Dad is a conservative, political type whom has never stopped loving (or obsessing over?) Pippa's birth mom. Pippa moves to America to better know her parents and figure out who she is and to finally find a place to fit in. To go much more into the story is pointless because I didn't feel there was a real strong plot line- there's a few love interests thrown in and eventually Pippa wisely realizes that the fantasy birth family she's dreamt about her whole life isn't what it's cracked up to be, but not before she puts up with way more than I think most people would have stood.
I feel like this had the potential to be a good story. I was expecting a charming, witty look at what it would be like reuniting with parents who share your genetics, but are complete strangers, as well as the clashing of cultures; instead it was a book about a bunch of overly-eccentric characters whom, for the most part, were not very likeable. Pippa was okay, and would have made a decent heroine of a "Shopaholic" type novel, but put in this setting she eventually became as irritating as the other characters. To me, a book should never have more than one or two eccentric people, yet this one had a whole cast, save her adopted family (they were just typical British eccentric.) It sometimes felt like crazy characters were thrown in just to make sure we all know how wacky her birth family really was; almost gives American's a bad name.
Maybe it's the Anglophile in me speaking, but I couldn't understand what the appeal of staying with her birth parents was when she had a pretty cool life back in London. I kept hoping she'd just go back to London and the book would turn into a witty, British romantic fiction.
Ultimately, I just didn't connect with the characters, not really caring what happened to Pippa or her American family; I found myself skimming too many pages that I contemplated not finishing it. Pretty much sums it up.
The book is about a young woman nicknamed Pippa who was adopted from America at birth by a British couple who thought they couldn't have kids (but wound up having a birth daughter a year later after the adoption.) Because she always felt so different from them, and wants desperately to feel like she belongs, Pippa seeks out her birth Mom and Dad in America.
Her Mom turns out to be an eccentric artist type whom Pippa initially feels she can relate to more personality-wise, while her Dad is a conservative, political type whom has never stopped loving (or obsessing over?) Pippa's birth mom. Pippa moves to America to better know her parents and figure out who she is and to finally find a place to fit in. To go much more into the story is pointless because I didn't feel there was a real strong plot line- there's a few love interests thrown in and eventually Pippa wisely realizes that the fantasy birth family she's dreamt about her whole life isn't what it's cracked up to be, but not before she puts up with way more than I think most people would have stood.
I feel like this had the potential to be a good story. I was expecting a charming, witty look at what it would be like reuniting with parents who share your genetics, but are complete strangers, as well as the clashing of cultures; instead it was a book about a bunch of overly-eccentric characters whom, for the most part, were not very likeable. Pippa was okay, and would have made a decent heroine of a "Shopaholic" type novel, but put in this setting she eventually became as irritating as the other characters. To me, a book should never have more than one or two eccentric people, yet this one had a whole cast, save her adopted family (they were just typical British eccentric.) It sometimes felt like crazy characters were thrown in just to make sure we all know how wacky her birth family really was; almost gives American's a bad name.
Maybe it's the Anglophile in me speaking, but I couldn't understand what the appeal of staying with her birth parents was when she had a pretty cool life back in London. I kept hoping she'd just go back to London and the book would turn into a witty, British romantic fiction.
Ultimately, I just didn't connect with the characters, not really caring what happened to Pippa or her American family; I found myself skimming too many pages that I contemplated not finishing it. Pretty much sums it up.
September 30, 2009
Pippa Dunn was born in America but adopted by well-to-do British parents who gave her a wonderful home and life, but as an adult she craves knowledge of who she "really" is and seeks out her birth parents. She finds a crazy mother living in Georgia and working as an art promoter, and a mysterious father who might be a spy, might work for the CIA, or might be making money illegally from foreign governments. She quickly identifies with their looks and quirks, only to find out that she is more different from them than she thought.
After having read great reviews of this book and enjoying the beginning, I was disappointed by its entirety. In some ways it felt like a written-to-be-a-movie book, with somewhat over-exaggerated characters and events. I got irritated with Pippa "finding herself" in her birth parents. She was much more like them in looks and personality than I am like my mom or my kids are like me, and it felt stretched. Although not graphic, the casual sexual encounter with a man she hardly knew in America bothered me, as did her drooling over another British man she ALSO hardly knew (who turned out to be married with chldren). In t
After having read great reviews of this book and enjoying the beginning, I was disappointed by its entirety. In some ways it felt like a written-to-be-a-movie book, with somewhat over-exaggerated characters and events. I got irritated with Pippa "finding herself" in her birth parents. She was much more like them in looks and personality than I am like my mom or my kids are like me, and it felt stretched. Although not graphic, the casual sexual encounter with a man she hardly knew in America bothered me, as did her drooling over another British man she ALSO hardly knew (who turned out to be married with chldren). In t
Read
February 15, 2014from an interview with the author:
"People have no idea of the huge internal and external obstacles that face adopted people who decide to try to find their birth parents. In today's culture, adopted people tend to be portrayed as victims at best or serial killers at worst. (Or they're just presented as rather blah - like the adoptee in Mike Leigh's otherwise excellent film "Secrets and Lies," ....)
"I was completely fed up with what seemed to me to be a lack of empathy and understanding for what the adoption-and-reunion journey might be like for the adopted person him- or herself. I had a growing sense that if I could create an appealing, funny, authentic, vulnerable adopted heroine/narrator - and take the reader with her on her journey in an entertaining, accessible way - people might start to really 'get' what it might be like, from an adopted person's point of view.... Instead of presenting the adoptee as yet another victim, I wanted to create a realistic, accessible adopted heroine at the center of the kind of book I like to read."
... and it appears that the kind of book Larkin likes to read is a predictable, cozy chick-lit romance.
"People have no idea of the huge internal and external obstacles that face adopted people who decide to try to find their birth parents. In today's culture, adopted people tend to be portrayed as victims at best or serial killers at worst. (Or they're just presented as rather blah - like the adoptee in Mike Leigh's otherwise excellent film "Secrets and Lies," ....)
"I was completely fed up with what seemed to me to be a lack of empathy and understanding for what the adoption-and-reunion journey might be like for the adopted person him- or herself. I had a growing sense that if I could create an appealing, funny, authentic, vulnerable adopted heroine/narrator - and take the reader with her on her journey in an entertaining, accessible way - people might start to really 'get' what it might be like, from an adopted person's point of view.... Instead of presenting the adoptee as yet another victim, I wanted to create a realistic, accessible adopted heroine at the center of the kind of book I like to read."
... and it appears that the kind of book Larkin likes to read is a predictable, cozy chick-lit romance.
April 4, 2015
I just could not finish this book. I tried and tried. I got halfway through, but most of that was a struggle. The author was also the narrator, and she was a very good narrator. But there was no arc to the story. It was like a bunch of little steps, one bit after another, but no plot, no storyline, almost no conflict or mystery or anything to grab you. It was just kind of bland and boring. And there were many miss opportunities for ... I don't know what to call it, maybe deeper analysis, or discussion of implications, but most of them were missed.
If I remember correctly, this is a novel based on true experience. Maybe that's the problem. There were a lot of irrelevant and boring details that might have been interesting if this were the memoir of a remarkable, unusual or famous person, but were boring as part of a novel.
Sorry, Alison. If the person in the book is anything like you, then you seem like a delightful, funny, and interesting person. But the book itself isn't doing it for me.
If I remember correctly, this is a novel based on true experience. Maybe that's the problem. There were a lot of irrelevant and boring details that might have been interesting if this were the memoir of a remarkable, unusual or famous person, but were boring as part of a novel.
Sorry, Alison. If the person in the book is anything like you, then you seem like a delightful, funny, and interesting person. But the book itself isn't doing it for me.
July 11, 2011
Sometimes you come across a book that hits you at a time that you really either needed it or you can really relate to it--this is that book for me. This semi-autobiographical novel is about a woman who is adopted by an English couple whom she adores, but still longs to know her biological parents and goes on a journey of self-discovery as she finds them. She comes over to America and it is more than she bargained for! Alison Larkin's literary voice is both funny and moving and if you know me you know that I am a bit obsessed with all things British (I watched that Amanda Bynes and Colin Firth movie, "What a Girl Wants" over and over and over...I secretly think I was supposed to be British). I loved hearing what America looks and feels like from a different perspective and really related to her experience with her biological mother as I had a strikingly similar experience with someone in my own extended family. Enjoy, but it does have a little bit of language and sensuality which I say ahead of time!
October 14, 2009
Loved this book; it takes you on the journey of a young woman adopted by Brits to find her American birthparents, across a raw emotional landscape, and through cultures as farflung as the eccentric rural south, gay bars in NYC, and the secretive world of Washington DC military contractors. Home base is what she's looking for. Does she find it in a cozy cup of tea with her frumpy but contented adopted family in England? Or her adventurous but confusing birthparents whose allegiances are both guarded and shifting? What really makes this story riveting is not just that it's true- it is - but the author's youthful exuberance and wit that permeates every page. Should be read by everyone who has adopted a child from another culture.
July 10, 2008
I liked the premise & the first chapter pulled me in, but the rest of the book left me wanting. I only kept reading because I actually liked Pippa. Too bad I didn't like many of the supporting characters... They seemed one dimensional & irritated me.
Plus, I get it, Americans cannot "make tea." Too bad this does not go over well for this Southern-Floridian raised Irish-American who won't touch anything but Twining's Earl Grey w/ milk & sugar or honey, please. The English-American "differences" were not funny enough for me. Also, there's too much political commentary for a light read, imo. (Disclaimer- this is not my favorite genre.)
Plus, I get it, Americans cannot "make tea." Too bad this does not go over well for this Southern-Floridian raised Irish-American who won't touch anything but Twining's Earl Grey w/ milk & sugar or honey, please. The English-American "differences" were not funny enough for me. Also, there's too much political commentary for a light read, imo. (Disclaimer- this is not my favorite genre.)
December 11, 2012
Several things come to mind in regards to this book.....be careful what you wish for, appreciate the things and people in your life that you currently have, don't go looking for trouble, things are not always as they appear, and most of all be grateful and stop complaining. I will also add a favorite quote my mother always said "get over it". Life is so short, enjoy what you have instead of always wondering what you are missing.
April 19, 2008
At the age of 28, Pippa has decided to contact her birth parents. Adopted by a British couple, her "real" parents are American. Closer to her American relatives in looks and temperment, she thinks she has found the answers to all her problems. But nothing is that easy. A realistic and touching story, maybe because the author was also raised in England but born to Americans. I loved it.
April 6, 2008
Fabulous and Funny. Insightful and Uproarious. Real and Imaginary. A great read for anyone but even better if you are adopted or connected to adoption.
August 17, 2008
the humor and sweetness of this book really touched me. I just adored Pippa and this authors debut novel!
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January 26, 2016Hilarious and heartbreaking look at an adoption reunion.
June 28, 2013
Our bookclub read this some years ago. A great write and a great read
November 12, 2018
I’m not an adoptee, just an American of British descent, so the adoption aspect was not the main appeal of this novel for me. I cared more about the cultural dislocation of the main character/author avatar in and of itself.
As for the plot and characters, it seems that like so much in British/American relations, it is a matter of expectations. The premise itself clues you in that this journey of discovery will be rocky and disappointing, dashing Pippa’s naive hopes. Of course the birth parents won’t be “good” people. You expect that an eighth of the way in.
I expected a sympathetic portrayal of the British characters, based on showing them as the “normal state of things”. I expected the American birth parents — especially after the synopsis said they were Southern and/Republican — to be depicted as overly emotional, “brash”, self-absorbed, and ultimately unconcerned about Pippa’s actual life. And they were.
Pippa’s parents, the Dunns, seemed like perfectly normal southern English people, as expected. I did not find them “stuffy” or “frumpy”, other than the fact that they’re in late middle age, and as Larkin has Pippa describe, set in their very cozy, very ordinary English routines. Beyond that they are fiercely loving, wise, and steady. Gemma Dunn reminded me of the mother in Kate Atkinson’s Behind the Scenes at the Museum.
I was not surprised by any of this. I was not surprised at Larkin’s rather clumsy attempts to blend politics overtly into the novel. All art is political, and the British-American relationship has had it at its heart for centuries. I had to remind myself (expectations!) that this was a chick-lit novel, not an article in The New Republic, and so there would be no detailed discussion of why the American Left was so weak in the aughts. Just Pippa’s paradoxically very British observation that “We Americans don’t really do protest”. A stereotypical British character would essentialize Americans like that. I therefore also expected a scene of Pippa’s young anti-Blair social circle making essentialized anti-American banter. It would have been disappointing, in fact, not find that scene in this book.
I was intrigued by Nick even as I expected that the novel would also feature a “sophisticated, globalized Brit” who has a deep sophisticated connection with Pippa. But I did not expect what he would turn out to be.
I was also surprised that Larkin did try to bring some mild sympathy to her portrayal of Pippa’s actively GW Bush-style Republican father. He is a creature of the war on terror, and yet we are made to see his worldview for a moment.
So I got most of what I expected. I couldn’t help but think, though, that the novel would have been more interesting and unexpected if the either British or the Americans were not so predictably quintessential. What if Pippa’s birth parents were Irish-American quietly observant Catholic schoolteachers in Wisconsin? What if she’d been adopted by a Tory banker from the City and his wife?
Larkin could have written a more subtle novel. Alas, that book remains unwritten for now.
As for the plot and characters, it seems that like so much in British/American relations, it is a matter of expectations. The premise itself clues you in that this journey of discovery will be rocky and disappointing, dashing Pippa’s naive hopes. Of course the birth parents won’t be “good” people. You expect that an eighth of the way in.
I expected a sympathetic portrayal of the British characters, based on showing them as the “normal state of things”. I expected the American birth parents — especially after the synopsis said they were Southern and/Republican — to be depicted as overly emotional, “brash”, self-absorbed, and ultimately unconcerned about Pippa’s actual life. And they were.
Pippa’s parents, the Dunns, seemed like perfectly normal southern English people, as expected. I did not find them “stuffy” or “frumpy”, other than the fact that they’re in late middle age, and as Larkin has Pippa describe, set in their very cozy, very ordinary English routines. Beyond that they are fiercely loving, wise, and steady. Gemma Dunn reminded me of the mother in Kate Atkinson’s Behind the Scenes at the Museum.
I was not surprised by any of this. I was not surprised at Larkin’s rather clumsy attempts to blend politics overtly into the novel. All art is political, and the British-American relationship has had it at its heart for centuries. I had to remind myself (expectations!) that this was a chick-lit novel, not an article in The New Republic, and so there would be no detailed discussion of why the American Left was so weak in the aughts. Just Pippa’s paradoxically very British observation that “We Americans don’t really do protest”. A stereotypical British character would essentialize Americans like that. I therefore also expected a scene of Pippa’s young anti-Blair social circle making essentialized anti-American banter. It would have been disappointing, in fact, not find that scene in this book.
I was intrigued by Nick even as I expected that the novel would also feature a “sophisticated, globalized Brit” who has a deep sophisticated connection with Pippa. But I did not expect what he would turn out to be.
I was also surprised that Larkin did try to bring some mild sympathy to her portrayal of Pippa’s actively GW Bush-style Republican father. He is a creature of the war on terror, and yet we are made to see his worldview for a moment.
So I got most of what I expected. I couldn’t help but think, though, that the novel would have been more interesting and unexpected if the either British or the Americans were not so predictably quintessential. What if Pippa’s birth parents were Irish-American quietly observant Catholic schoolteachers in Wisconsin? What if she’d been adopted by a Tory banker from the City and his wife?
Larkin could have written a more subtle novel. Alas, that book remains unwritten for now.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 20, 2019
This is a fun story, and a great read. It also has pain, pain that can be brought on by a father’s infidelity, the rejection associated with adoption, or other deeply felt disappointment in life.
The author, Alison Larkin, writes with authenticity. She herself was adopted at birth from American parents and brought up in England by her adoptive parents. Her internationally acclaimed one-woman show, The English American, was a highlight of the London Comedy Festival.
In this story, Pippa was adopted at birth. She was brought up in a loving family (her adoptive Mum fell pregnant shortly after, as often happens) and she adores them. But she sometimes feels like a fish out of water. Whilst her sister and mother are well-organised, well-groomed and totally organised, Pippa is none of those. Her imagination is always turning over and over, and distracting her from her surroundings. She can lose her socks while she is putting them on! She is bright, musical, artistic and untidy. Which just doesn’t fit in.
When the story opens, Pippa is twenty-eight, and has a London job, selling corporate advertising space on the telephone. Good money and she does well, due to her “absurdly un-English enthusiasm”. In fact, she is the top sales person. So why is she doing this mundane job? She wanted to write plays and sing in musicals but her Dad said she should get a proper job: “It’s called work!” Or she would have liked to audition for the London stage, but her fear of rejection is stopping her.
Her fear of rejection doesn’t stop at job hunting. It’s the same with men:
“When I’m on my own with a boyfriend, everything’s wonderful. But when we go into the outside world, I find myself on red alert, terrified that the object of my affections will be making a date with the waitress if I so much as go to the loo…I thought I’d find the solution by dating the men least likely to leave me: Dull Blokes only…The more time we spent together, the more afraid I became that he would go off with someone else.”
So she would lose confidence completely and break up the relationship: “It’s awful, it’s awful. And it has been going on for years.”
Pippa wants to know the mother who gave her these genes and insecurities. Ever since she chanced on her adoption papers in a drawer, she has been trying to track down her birth-mother. The Paper was “Non-identifying information” about Pippa’s biological parents. And yes. they were brilliant and famous and American! But who were they? She had written to the adoption agency but American adoption laws made it almost impossible to find out. But now, she has just had a break-through and found her Mom! So Pippa goes to America and gets to know her folks, her gene pool and America; and starts a career in showbiz. It’s a roller-coaster ride.
The author, Alison Larkin, writes with authenticity. She herself was adopted at birth from American parents and brought up in England by her adoptive parents. Her internationally acclaimed one-woman show, The English American, was a highlight of the London Comedy Festival.
In this story, Pippa was adopted at birth. She was brought up in a loving family (her adoptive Mum fell pregnant shortly after, as often happens) and she adores them. But she sometimes feels like a fish out of water. Whilst her sister and mother are well-organised, well-groomed and totally organised, Pippa is none of those. Her imagination is always turning over and over, and distracting her from her surroundings. She can lose her socks while she is putting them on! She is bright, musical, artistic and untidy. Which just doesn’t fit in.
When the story opens, Pippa is twenty-eight, and has a London job, selling corporate advertising space on the telephone. Good money and she does well, due to her “absurdly un-English enthusiasm”. In fact, she is the top sales person. So why is she doing this mundane job? She wanted to write plays and sing in musicals but her Dad said she should get a proper job: “It’s called work!” Or she would have liked to audition for the London stage, but her fear of rejection is stopping her.
Her fear of rejection doesn’t stop at job hunting. It’s the same with men:
“When I’m on my own with a boyfriend, everything’s wonderful. But when we go into the outside world, I find myself on red alert, terrified that the object of my affections will be making a date with the waitress if I so much as go to the loo…I thought I’d find the solution by dating the men least likely to leave me: Dull Blokes only…The more time we spent together, the more afraid I became that he would go off with someone else.”
So she would lose confidence completely and break up the relationship: “It’s awful, it’s awful. And it has been going on for years.”
Pippa wants to know the mother who gave her these genes and insecurities. Ever since she chanced on her adoption papers in a drawer, she has been trying to track down her birth-mother. The Paper was “Non-identifying information” about Pippa’s biological parents. And yes. they were brilliant and famous and American! But who were they? She had written to the adoption agency but American adoption laws made it almost impossible to find out. But now, she has just had a break-through and found her Mom! So Pippa goes to America and gets to know her folks, her gene pool and America; and starts a career in showbiz. It’s a roller-coaster ride.
June 10, 2019
I saw Alison Larkin speak at a conference and she was just delightful. Funny and insightful and intelligent. Unfortunately, that didn't come through in this loosely autobiographical novel. It was surprisingly tone-deaf in multiple ways. For example, she confuses two idioms about birth: "gave me life" and "gave birth to me" to create the awkward "gave me birth." In a novel about a young adopted woman seeking out her birth parents, this comes up fairly frequently and it made me cringe every time. Also, she spends a lot of time pointing out the differences between British English and American English, yet when she meets her (American) birth father, he spouts quite a few Britishisms. Also, while we're talking about British vs American, she is very heavy handed about these difference. Someone with one foot planted on each side of the Atlantic should recognize that British and American English evolved differently and having different words for things doesn't mean that the American word is wrong.
Finally, this eBook was really badly produced. I can honestly say that I've never seen one so badly done. I thought it must have been some obscure publisher, but it was Simon and Schuster. The book uses bold type at the beginning of each chapter, and frequently uses italics for emphasis, but every time that happens, the space between the words is dropped. Likethis orthis. Picky? Yes. But also distracting.
Finally, this eBook was really badly produced. I can honestly say that I've never seen one so badly done. I thought it must have been some obscure publisher, but it was Simon and Schuster. The book uses bold type at the beginning of each chapter, and frequently uses italics for emphasis, but every time that happens, the space between the words is dropped. Likethis orthis. Picky? Yes. But also distracting.
July 6, 2025
I was drawn to this book's title because technically I'm an English American too (thanks dad, now they just need to make it easier for me to get a passport). I thought that some characters could have been introduced a little smoother, and I wasn't always a fan of the writing style, but I did see that this book was adapted from Alison Larkin's stage play so I'd be interested in seeing if the writing is more suited for the stage. I definitely wanted to know how the story ended once I got into the second half of the book, which I liked better; I felt that new characters and settings were generally introduced more naturally than earlier in the book. I'm also a sucker for epistolary novels so I did enjoy having Nick and Pippa's emails included .
I debated between 2 and 3 stars- maybe 2.75 stars is right? But Goodreads doesn't do fractions, it's 3 AM, and I really did like how the second half went. So 3 stars from me it is.
I debated between 2 and 3 stars- maybe 2.75 stars is right? But Goodreads doesn't do fractions, it's 3 AM, and I really did like how the second half went. So 3 stars from me it is.
June 2, 2017
Apparently, Vogue called this the most powerful book of the season. I am not certain which season.
Overall, I enjoyed listening to this book, but it could have done with a more stern editor, as there were points were the narrative was more elaborate than it needed to be. Also, some parts were 1) embarrassingly stereotypical (British behaviour, American behaviour, etc.) 2) embarrassingly predictable.
For me, this book fluctuated between two and three stars. If Goodreads allowed for half points, I would have rated it 2.5 stars. Mind you, I do not consider that to be a bad review or rank. It simply means that I liked parts of the book and disliked parts of the book. If a book is unreadable, I delete from my queue; I do not bother plodding on with it.
Overall, I enjoyed listening to this book, but it could have done with a more stern editor, as there were points were the narrative was more elaborate than it needed to be. Also, some parts were 1) embarrassingly stereotypical (British behaviour, American behaviour, etc.) 2) embarrassingly predictable.
For me, this book fluctuated between two and three stars. If Goodreads allowed for half points, I would have rated it 2.5 stars. Mind you, I do not consider that to be a bad review or rank. It simply means that I liked parts of the book and disliked parts of the book. If a book is unreadable, I delete from my queue; I do not bother plodding on with it.
May 5, 2018
Wow!!! I loved this book. I could not stop listening to it and then when it ended I didn't want to let it end. Funny, sweet, and touching. I always like to listen to books read by the author. Alison Larkin is wonderful narrating this book. Alison has a lovely voice that you instantly fall in love with. Adoption has been part of our family and some of the adult's have sot out their birth parents and this is so close to their stories. I loved how Alison tells about first meeting her birth Mom and then Dad and how she feels about coming to America after being raised in England. That feeling of coming home. Loved this book! Hope there is another. I was gifted this book with the understanding that I would leave an honest review. Thank you for the chance to hear it.
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