Navigating between light and shadow, narrative and immersion

By Anne-Marie Oomen
Sun contributor

Writing a review for a dear friend is always a risk because, well, what if you don’t like the book? Fortunately, it is an honor and pleasure to review Jacob Wheeler’s beautiful first book Between light and Shadow: A Guatemalan Girl’s Journey through Adoption (University of Nebraska Press, April 2011). My initial interest was not just watching a talented young writer arrive on the nonfiction scene. I also live in a world laced with international families, both intact and broken by various boundaries, and like most families, my own has been affected by adoption. That said, when I pick up a fellow writer’s work, I also want that book to lead me beyond my personal interest. I want to be moved, to experience their moment, and I want to learn something beyond the normal encyclopedic information. I want to respect the craft.

So I was thrilled to discover Between Light and Shadow is an outstanding example of two relatively recently developed genres of journalism: narrative journalism in which history or an event is related in third person as a story with scenes, dialogue, arc — where we do not see the author; and immersion journalism, in which the author writes in first person and plays a role in the unfolding of the tale. I’ll say up front, it’s a risk to do both in the same book, but Jacob Wheeler succeeds with grace.

Thus the book is divided into two sections. The first, “The Journey” includes a serious study of Guatemalan adoption practices as they were carried out until 2008 when the government finally stopped what was called the “baby drain” from Guatemala’s homeland. Laced into this solid reporting is the narrative of several families who have adopted Guatemalan children, though the primary narrative focuses on Ellie Walters (her American name) who was adopted at eight years old by Judy Barrett and Bob Walters of Traverse City. Between the highly educational and clear information about both the benefits and corruption of Guatemalan adoption, we are introduced to Ellie’s (Berenice) journey. From her remote home village to the orphanage where she was abandoned, from her initial meeting with the Walters family to the halting journey to Michigan — this odyssey is as gripping and rich a piece of journalism as this reader could wish.

In the second section, “The Return, ” Jacob focuses almost exclusively on the story of the two families as both metaphorical model of light and threat of darkness in this complex and challenging process. In an attempt to support Ellie’s need to connect with her birth family and to understand some of the haunting memories she retained, the adoptive parents hopefully engage Jacob’s assistance in locating Ellie’s birth mother. Here we see Jacob enter the story, speaking as himself, “immersing” in the effort to facilitate the search. While he maintains the discipline of documentarian, like everyone in the story, he finds himself pulled irrevocably into that soul-torn place between the light and shadow of this multi-faceted situation. Though he is miraculously able to locate Ellie’s birth mother and is able to mediate a meeting between the two mothers, and later between Ellie and her siblings, these are murky emotional waters and their under-the-surface precipices are being negotiated in a country where accurate records, social services, and proper legal proceedings are often compromised. In order to avoid the ramifications of this nearly tragic return, Jacob, like everyone in the book, must make a choice to participate beyond his expectations. To immerse. To become fully involved.

The end of this story explores deeply and sensitively the gray areas of international adoption, shows the sunlight and the shadow for both adoptive family and birth family, for both mothers and for the lovely daughter at the center of the story. It is not a perfect ending, but it is not to be missed.

As a writer, I appreciated Jacob’s ingenious two-part structure unified by this singular and deeply personal adoption story. The structure exemplified the sentiment of the story: the duality of loyalty and love set against the harsh realities of survival, illegal trafficking, and emotional triage. His writing style is straightforward, without much ornament — and in this case, little is needed. His description of the natural beauty and desperate poverty of Guatemala, his careful depiction of the human situations, his thorough analysis of the legal and illegal aspects of the adoption system, and his faithfulness to both families, tells it true in clear and lucid prose. Jacob Wheeler’s choices as a writer make this book both an important document and a suspenseful tale of two families. His choices as a human being make this a story with a soul.

Jacob Wheeler will read from Between Light and Shadow on Friday, Aug. 12, from 3-5 p.m. at the Cottage Book Shop in Glen Arbor.