Tree of Strangers

Like many adopted children, filmmaker Barbara Sumner yearned to know who her mother was. New Zealand’s closed adoption laws made that almost impossible and coloured her chaotic adolescence and adult life. When she finally tracked her mother down, a longed-for reunion ended in tragedy. This remarkable, moving, beautifully written memoir explores Sumner’s conviction that everyone who loses their mother suffers some degree of physiological damage. They are all grafted onto the tree of strangers.