Mother of the Disappeared, part memoir and part poetic journey, is a Kentucky birth mother's story of the relinquishment of her son to adoption in 1973, a time of social and political upheaval. 1973 meant Roe vs. Wade. It meant Kent State and Watergate and a disaffected American youth on the road in search of selves lost between Sixties free love and Eighties high-tech. More than a story of a time and a place, however, this is a story of the consequences of loss. At the age of fifteen, McElmurray relinquished a son to adoption, and also relinquished part of herself. Mother of the Disappeared explores that loss and its consequences and enters a difficult landscape -- the mind and heart of a birth mother who gave her child up for adoption due to insurmountable circumstances -- a decision which haunts her today. Authorities gave her two different dates for her son's birth when she went in search of him. "One of these days is my birthday, so I celebrate both...The truth is I never saw my son's face. I see a face I have created. It is one I want, one I believe in, twenty-six years later". Juxtaposed with McElmurray's portrayal of her own mother, a mother who could not give her what she needed, this moving memoir sends the reader on a journey to explore the meaning of motherhood. As McElmurray searches for her son, she searches for her mother and for herself. Recovery in this book is recovery of a family lost, and also recovery of a self that must be found.McElmurray, Karen Salyer is the author of 'Mother of the Disappeared' with ISBN 9781588180384 and ISBN 1588180387.