Lifting the Lid

Lifting the Lid – a memoir born of adoption is a compelling story told by a distinctive voice with heart and humour about identity, belonging and a woman’s search for her biological truth. It is an exploration by the author, as an adopted baby girl, growing up in Newcastle, Australia in the 1970s and 1980s – of assimilating and clashing with culture, gender and societal norms.

Anyone connected to adoption or interested in family history and Australia’s social landscape from the mid-twentieth century to the present will love this book.

Lifting the Lid explores identity through the author’s experience as the product of a sexual encounter between a ‘fine’ protestant girl and a migrant Italian Catholic musician in the mid-sixties, traversing uncharted territory where truth and secrets live in parallel across Newcastle, Sydney, Tasmania and Melbourne.

Growing pains from childhood to adolescence and the coming of age towards adulthood are vividly described through imagery of dreams and references to pop culture as the inner workings of a developing mind unfolds as the author searches for her place.

Uniquely Australian, yet universal in thought, this memoir illustrates how identity is linked to heritage and the fallout from denial of the truth.

Author Biography

Karen Ingram is a mother, feminist, performer, celebrant and activist who lives in Melbourne, Australia on traditional lands of the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung people and remains connected to her hometown of Newcastle, the traditional lands of the Awabakal and Worimi people. Her experience as an adopted child born in the mid-sixties has shaped her perceptions of life, family and identity. She has worked as artist manager, publicist, educator, presenter, media spokesperson, counsellor, social justice advocate and community development practitioner – collecting experiences like feathers to grow a colourful and majestic boa. She is a self-described ‘glass half full’ kind of woman.www.kareningram.com.au