Who among your circle of friends or family has not been caught up in one or more of these dilemmas: family problems, a difficult choice between an abortion or adoption, an unjust legal system or loss of career, drugs or alcohol dependency, a religious identity crisis or thoughts of suicide? Perhaps someone you know is a Holocaust victim or their descendant, or been touched by assimilation problems. It is all here, in a compelling saga, based on the lives of two Jewish families that converge over an adopted child. A sealed adoption agreement is breached, and the birth-mother and adoptive-mother are forced to confront each other's complicated histories. Spanning seventy years and two continents, the tragedies and triumphs of both families are woven together, ultimately leading to redemption. In recent years there have been a number of books written by a birth-mother forced to give up her child or by the adopted child reuniting with her biological parents. This book is unique. The Blessing and the Curse is written from my point of view, as the adoptive-mother, with the cooperation of the birth-mother and her family. It cracks open the facade of family life, digging deeper into who we are and why. Nothing happens in a vacuum. This saga poignantly reveals the ups and downs, the real life dramas, that funnel our choices and defines who we are.