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An Accidental Mother

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WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:

“Poignant.”—New York Journal of Books

“An Accidental Mother should be required reading for every parent (to appreciate what you have, even on days the kids are driving you crazy), and anyone who is in a serious (non-married) relationship in which kids are involved.”—She Is Too Fond of Books

“Heartbreaking and compelling.”—Everyday I Write the Book

“It will make you laugh, cry, and appreciate the simplistic complications of life.” -  AutoExposure.com

“In a world like ours, where women have more life choices and the word “family” has more accepted definitions, there are probably quite a few others in Kindred’s situation. They will appreciate the bittersweet comfort she provides within these pages.  Kindred no longer has any contact with Michael and Elizabeth, but it’s likely they will become aware of the book she has written. Someday, surely, they will appreciate it, a polished scrapbook of their sweetest moments, as well as the tougher times, and a testament of Kindred’s unwavering love.”—The Minneapolis Star Tribune


“...As her debut book, An Accidental Mother will make you ponder on your own family and things we take for granted” - Examiner.com

Read this book if you want to see the many ways in which motherhood can be defined. It would also be a great gift to anyone that is an “unofficial” mother in your or someone’s life.—Booksync

THE ACCIDENTAL MOTHER is a heartfelt book about love and loss, and it’s guaranteed to touch you and make you think about what constitutes “parental rights.” - Booking Mama

“In this slim volume, she retells the story of her falling in love, not with Jim, but with Michael and motherhood, and how this small child touched her heart indelibly. Kate’s brokenness and aching resonates on every page. Even the silly stories in alternating chapters are filled with the weight of the knowledge that they are coming to an end all too soon. This story speaks to the pain of anyone who has every loved a child without any blood shared, and the failure of the courts to recognize these connections. This is not an easy read, but it is a worthwhile one that will break readers’ hearts and get them thinking.”—Christy’s Book Blog


“An Accidental Mother is Kindred’s love letter to the boy who is her son, even if their kinship is neither biological nor legal….A very short book, An Accidental Mother is also an extremely compelling and heartbreaking book. In addition, it raises the question of what exactly makes someone a parent. If you live with a child for six years, care for him when he is sick, get up with him when he has a nightmare, help him with his homework – and all of these things out of love, not the obligation of a job – are you not his parent?”—Devourer of Books

“Kindred tells a story that every Significant Other should take to heart; mainly, that your rights to the child belonging to your “other half” are not whole….This is not just a “mom’s book;” it will ring true with anyone who cherishes a child that’s not theirs. If that’s you, beware: this is a book you’ll love.”— Mesquite Local News

“A very poignant, touching memoir about a very special relationship. My heart goes out to Kate, and to Michael.”—McGuffy’s Reader

“Very touching.”—Hey Lorri

“This beautiful memoir details an aspect of blended families that I hadn’t ever considered before - what happens to a step-parent following the break up of the blended family…The writing is exactly what I look for in a memoir - nothing too heavy or detail-y, like you’d expect from a biography, but with a large focus on the author’s emotions surrounding this portion of her life.  Kindred did an amazing job of conveying those emotions in a way that is both a beautiful portrait of the choices she made to be a mother of a child that was not hers biologically and heartbreaking in their depiction of her loss…I highly recommend picking this one up - especially if you’re in any kind of blended family situation, but also if you like the memoir genre or if you’re any other kind of non-traditional parent.  This is a beautiful story of motherhood and that love and connection that transcends biological parenthood.”—bookhookedblog

KATHERINE KINDRED

AN ACCIDENTAL MOTHER

Please note that names have been changed

After her divorce, Kate Kindred decided that she would live her life without children. But then she fell in love with Jim, a handsome, caring man who had custody of his two-year-old son, Michael. And she fell in love with the boy, too. During the six years they all lived together, Kate learned the deep joys of motherhood—that was the gift that Michael gave her. But when her relationship with Jim ended, he denied her any contact with Michael.

And her heart was broken.

An Accidental Mother beautifully describes the joys of mothering a young boy through complicated times. With sweet simple anecdotes and complex emotions, Kate Kindred marks every page with tears, including those that the most loving laughter can bring to any parent.

BOOK INFORMATION

$23.95 - $24,95 CAN | Hardcover | 5x7 1/4 | 224 pages

September 2011

ISBN: 978-1-60953-058-7 | Carton Quantity: 36

EISBN: 978-1-60953-059-4

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READ EXCERPT

Welcoming a barrage of blind dates, I soon learned that being childless at forty is a rarity. At my age nearly everyone single has at one point been married, and most of those marriages have resulted in a child or two. I joked to my girlfriends that surely I was meant to be a stepmother instead of a birth mother. Someday I would meet someone with two teenagers on their way to college who did not need a new mother and whose father was financially and emotionally prepared for a long-term casual commitment.

Obviously, I hadn’t fully evaluated other possible outcomes.

Welcome Michael, just months shy of four years old, with dark-blond hair and big blue eyes, in dire need of a mother. Oh, and did I mention Jim, the ever handsome and charming father of said boy? The first time this child tested me with the word “mom” and then looked up into my eyes with a little grin, waiting, waiting, waiting to see what my response was going to be, I knew I was in deep trouble. His inquiries have continued, albeit with modifications along the way. Once I was paging through a magazine while he sat beside me with a coloring book and crayons, and he stopped to ask me if he had come out of my stomach.

“No,” I told him, “you came out of your mother’s stomach.”
“But I want you to be my mother!”
I hesitated, then pulled out the bottom of my sweatshirt to make myself look pregnant. “Okay, get in my stomach.”
Michael giggled. “Kate! You can’t go backward!” And then, just as I begin to worry that the joke was improper, he asked, “What should I color next?”

THE AUTHOR

Katherine Kindred

Katherine Kindred has been previously published in the Literary Journal Memoir (and).  She lives in Phoenix with her dog, Sophie.  This is her first book.

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