What do you think?
Rate this book
Almost Home: a memoir
While snooping in a closet as an adolescent, Hilary Harper discovers a secret: her parents are not her parents. Documents reveal her mother to be a vague, distant relative who died in a car crash. Her father is “unknown.”
Vividly depicting the suburban Detroit neighborhood of her childhood, and the relentless search for her paternal roots as an adult, Harper’s memoir culminates in a DNA test that delivers unexpected results.
A compelling, and ultimately triumphant story, Almost Home illustrates how strong the longing for an authentic identity can be, and how the choices made by one generation can have a lasting impact on the next.
“Fully and movingly realized.” - Deborah Ann Percy, author of Invisible Traffic
“The story is enthralling, with memorable characters, evocatively portrayed settings, and such tenderness.” – Kathryn Rhett, author of Souvenir and Near Breathing
Vividly depicting the suburban Detroit neighborhood of her childhood, and the relentless search for her paternal roots as an adult, Harper’s memoir culminates in a DNA test that delivers unexpected results.
A compelling, and ultimately triumphant story, Almost Home illustrates how strong the longing for an authentic identity can be, and how the choices made by one generation can have a lasting impact on the next.
“Fully and movingly realized.” - Deborah Ann Percy, author of Invisible Traffic
“The story is enthralling, with memorable characters, evocatively portrayed settings, and such tenderness.” – Kathryn Rhett, author of Souvenir and Near Breathing
283 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 24, 2017
15 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 11, 2017
Perseverance at its best
Such a heartfelt story detailing the steps and emotions that go along with searching for family answers. This really illustrates what adoptees can go through if they don't have access to their full story.
Such a heartfelt story detailing the steps and emotions that go along with searching for family answers. This really illustrates what adoptees can go through if they don't have access to their full story.
February 22, 2024
There was some of her story I found quite interesting and drawn to. My biggest issue with this book was she was all over the place. There wasn’t a clear vision and the book could’ve been a lot shorter. This would’ve been something I might’ve read if it was my own personal family but reading a book I expected it to be thought out better and not constantly bouncing all over the place.
August 30, 2017
What a massive undertaking for someone to begin the search to find their true identity. Hilary's journey was fraught with dead ends, frustrations and revelations while trying to piece her history together. An excellent read. Thank you for sharing your intimate story with the masses.
October 20, 2017
Hilary’s search for her birth parents was not an easy task. While innocently snooping through her mother’s bedroom with a girlfriend at age twelve, she discovered she was adopted. Insatiably curious, she continued to pry, discovering letters between her adoptive mother and her sister-in-law, whose younger sister was “in trouble. She is having a baby and needs help.” She learned that this sister is her birth mother, and she was killed in a car accident when Hilary was just seven months old.
Reading of this tragedy might have stopped me from wanting to know more. It's no surprise Hilary writes that she could only absorb so much of the truth. “The desire to know the whole story emerged slowly,” and it wasn’t until her twin sons asked about their grandfather that she began an earnest search for her father’s identity.
No one in her birth mother’s family knew him or knew his name. Some of the things they told Hilary were misleading: “He was a big Greek from Vegas, that’s all I know.” She found a copy of her original birth certificate, but the father’s name had been scratched out. She went through ten years of running down dead ends, including passing out flyers at a Sabre Pilots Association reunion in Las Vegas, based on a hunch. Can you imagine asking strangers “Were you at Nellis Air Force base in 1954? Did you fool around?”
Hilary’s drive to learn her identity is unquenchable, even though it understandably wavers. In fact, she had written the end of her memoir believing she would most likely never know who her father is.
Then, Part Two: DNA database and extraordinary kindnesses lead her to a (surprising) outcome. "Such an ordinary thing, to know one's own family," is not always ordinary, or simple, but for many of us, it's essential to our identity. As Hilary writes, it means looking in a mirror and not seeing a mystery.
Reading of this tragedy might have stopped me from wanting to know more. It's no surprise Hilary writes that she could only absorb so much of the truth. “The desire to know the whole story emerged slowly,” and it wasn’t until her twin sons asked about their grandfather that she began an earnest search for her father’s identity.
No one in her birth mother’s family knew him or knew his name. Some of the things they told Hilary were misleading: “He was a big Greek from Vegas, that’s all I know.” She found a copy of her original birth certificate, but the father’s name had been scratched out. She went through ten years of running down dead ends, including passing out flyers at a Sabre Pilots Association reunion in Las Vegas, based on a hunch. Can you imagine asking strangers “Were you at Nellis Air Force base in 1954? Did you fool around?”
Hilary’s drive to learn her identity is unquenchable, even though it understandably wavers. In fact, she had written the end of her memoir believing she would most likely never know who her father is.
Then, Part Two: DNA database and extraordinary kindnesses lead her to a (surprising) outcome. "Such an ordinary thing, to know one's own family," is not always ordinary, or simple, but for many of us, it's essential to our identity. As Hilary writes, it means looking in a mirror and not seeing a mystery.
November 16, 2017
“Almost Home” is the narrative of the author’s life growing up in downriver Detroit, her shattering discovery as a pre-teen that she is not who she thinks she is, and how, as an adult, she begin the serious search for family. Along the way, Harper’s engaging writing style invites the reader to share in her journey, her relationships and feelings of dislocation and not quite fitting in, her isolation and frustration, her curiosity and hope – and at times her obsession.
Often poignant, always interesting, Harper’s story will particularly resonate with those searching for their roots, but will also ring true for all of us who have wrestled with discovering who we are in all its forms.
Often poignant, always interesting, Harper’s story will particularly resonate with those searching for their roots, but will also ring true for all of us who have wrestled with discovering who we are in all its forms.
September 19, 2023
I have read several books about the search for one's biological origins, and I have to say that Hilary Harper's "Almost Home" was the best, so far. Her search starts out long before DNA matching and sites like Ancestry existed. The task was nearly impossible at first, including a lot of guesswork, the wrong clues, and imagination to fill in the blanks. It was interesting to read about that winding road of discoveries, wrong turns, and dashed hopes, before Hilary had access to DNA testing. Harper's beliefs about herself morph according to whatever the latest information revealed, an important point in this story - who are we, when we know little to nothing about our origins?
December 19, 2022
I enjoyed the book very much -- it was like I was
participating in the search. Even though I am not
adopted and I know my birth parents and family,
I related to many details brought out by the search.
I really got a kick when a comparison was made
of favorite comics -- Dilbert & Herman -- my all-time
favorites as well.
participating in the search. Even though I am not
adopted and I know my birth parents and family,
I related to many details brought out by the search.
I really got a kick when a comparison was made
of favorite comics -- Dilbert & Herman -- my all-time
favorites as well.
September 19, 2018
Hilary Harper writes about her journey to discover her family after she discovers she was given away after her mother died in a car accident. From small town in Michigan to California, to Las Vegas, she spends years hunting down the truth.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews