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    Postcards from Cookie: A Memoir of Motherhood, Miracles, and a Whole Lot of Mail
    Unavailable
    Postcards from Cookie: A Memoir of Motherhood, Miracles, and a Whole Lot of Mail
    Unavailable
    Postcards from Cookie: A Memoir of Motherhood, Miracles, and a Whole Lot of Mail
    Ebook355 pages9 hours

    Postcards from Cookie: A Memoir of Motherhood, Miracles, and a Whole Lot of Mail

    By Caroline Clarke

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Award-winning journalist and host of Black Enterprise Business Report Caroline Clarke's moving memoir of her surprise discovery of her birthmother—Cookie Cole, the daughter of Nat King Cole—and the relationship that blossomed between them through the heartfelt messages they exchanged on hundreds of postcards.

    Caroline Clarke was born in an era when adoptions were shameful, secret, and sealed. While she wondered about her biological parents, she kept her curiosity in check, until a series of small health problems raised concerns about her genetic heritage and its consequences for her two children's lives and her own.

    Though Spence-Chapin Family Service, the agency that handled her adoption, could not reveal the name of her birth mother, it was able to provide details that lead to a shocking truth. Caroline's birth mother and her family were related to a friend. The woman who gave her life was none other than Carole "Cookie" Cole, the daughter of iconic crooner and pianist Nat King Cole.

    Drawing on details provided by the agency and her own investigative skills, Caroline embarked on a life-changing journey of discovery that stretched from coast to coast, forged through e-mail, phone calls, and post cards. The constancy, volume, and intimacy of her steady correspondence with Cookie filled the days and distance between them. Through brief yet poignant messages squeezed onto three-inch open-faced squares, mother and daughter revealed themselves, sharing secrets, taking risks, and ultimately building a bond like no other.

    A heartfelt, inspiring tribute to both Caroline's adoptive parents and her biological mother, Postcards from Cookie illuminates the enduring power of love to shape and guide our lives.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateApr 15, 2014
    ISBN9780062103192
    Unavailable
    Postcards from Cookie: A Memoir of Motherhood, Miracles, and a Whole Lot of Mail

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    Reviews for Postcards from Cookie

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    • 4/5
      As a family historian, this book speaks to me about roots and heritage. I was hooked as soon as Caroline discovers the identity of her mother, who gave her up for adoption. The story unfold with many unexpected twists and turns. I enjoyed following along with the author on her journey of mixed emotions to final acceptance. Highly recommend.
    • 4/5
      Caroline Clarke's memoir about finding her birth mother is well-told in "Postcards from Cookie". You would think that the connection to Nat King Cole would have been the most extraordinary element to their connection but the twists and turns kept coming. Their story is crazy enough to be a Lifetime movie (this time I mean that in a good way).

      Clarke's journalistic side shows in both the attention to detail and in her refined and reflective writing style. The conversations are so detailed it almost seems as though they must have been recorded. The blossoming relationship was deep and beautiful even though Cookie and Caroline unfortunately didn't have much time together.

      There were a couple of times when certain conflicts seemed a little exaggerated, and where Clarke seemed to be in denial. There's nothing wrong with adoptees being curious about their origin, even if they were lucky enough to be raised in a great family. At the same time I can understand her desire to not want to hurt her parents.

      "Postcards from Cookie" is very touching story about a mother and daughter rediscovering each other that truly resonated with me.
    • 5/5
      Amazing backstory about Nat King Cole and wife adopting orphaned young relative. at 18 she got pregnant and was sent across the country to give birth and give baby up for adoption. At age 37, the child, now married to a successful businessman and mother of 2, finds her birth mother and realizes that she has known the family all her life. Specifically, a sister of Caroline's (adoptee) mother (Carole) had been a friend since college and had a lot of acquaintances in common. This is story of mother and child coming together, in all its' syncronicity.
    • 4/5
      I grabbed this because it's about the family of Nat King Cole, whom I loved. But he turns out to be a very minor character. Instead, this is the story of Cookie and Caroline, adopted daughter of Nat King Cole and birth mother to Caroline, adopted granddaughter of Nat King Cole.There's a tangled web of families to sort out. Caroline is happy and successful, having been parented by two wonderful educators who adopted her when she was a month old. She has a good marriage and two kids, and it's only some physical ailments that lead her back to the adoption agency to trace down her birth parents.She finds that she has actually met her sister and grandmother while unknowingly being related to them.Cookie is such an interesting woman! She herself was the daughter of Nat King Cole's wife Maria's sister. She is thrilled when Caroline finds her, but she is an agoraphobic and does most of her communicating via letters and postcards, which is frustrating and hurtful to Caroline. Caroline's adoptive parents are so wonderfully accepting of the whole fraught situation.Caroline and Cookie are both insightful and sensitive souls. This books pulls the reader right into the heart of a unique American family. The only missing pieces are two men, fathers, who never appear. I hope Caroline finds even more good relations from them someday.