"Heredity or environment--which makes us who we are? Newman's first novel, a delicious foray into the frenzied world of a single woman searching for her identity, is chock-full of interesting characters and wicked insights."
-- Booklist

"Sarah doesn't know her mother, and claws at the truth until it bites her back. Ms. Newman is a brave and vibrant writer...lending hope to those whose troublesome pasts are threatening to burn holes in their present progress."
--Elizabeth Richards, author of Rescue and Every Day

"Newman weaves all of the problems and concerns that English teachers have in their professional lives together with an entertaining saga."
--Professor Bette Brickman, NCTE Review

"This witty compassionate and amazingly accurate novel is about the search for one's self-identity--a quest that all of us, whether adopted or raised with our family of origin, must embrace on the path to adulthood. Ms. Newman's insight into the complexity of adoptee identity issues is unusually candid and precise."
--Marilyn Waugh, President of the American Adoption Congress

"About to turn 35, Sarah appears to have it all: ensconced in New York City, she's adored by her painter boyfriend who is six years her junior; she loves teaching English to foreign students and is working on a book about their struggles to assimilate. But while interviewing a handsome Romanian immigrant...she reveals a secret of her parentage that she has hidden from friends and lovers her entire life. Straightforward and pleasingly plainspoken...it's difficult not to feel touched by Sarah's brave search for the truth. This heartfelt novel is sure to interest readers..."
--Publishers Weekly

To read more about readers' reactions, click here.

Disturbing The Peace
Avon/HarperCollins paperback

Since I am not an adoptee, an adoptive parent, or a birth mother who has given up a child, people frequently ask me why I spent years writing a novel about an unmarried English teacher who decides to search for her biological mother. It's a good question, one that I asked myself many times while working on this book. Was I being exploitive by writing about an adoptee's plight? Was I trying to avoid writing about something in my own life? Was I trying to illuminate subjects that have been under wraps too long? Was I trying to make a hero out of a devoted English teacher? The answer took me years to figure out.

It had all begun at a neighborhood birthday party for toddlers where I met a woman who told me she was doing a search for her birth mother. We were both teachers and writers, our two year old sons hit it off, and we soon became close friends. Over the next few years, she shared her search experiences with me, and openly described the many legal and psychological obstacles she encountered while seeking the truth about her biological family.

I was fascinated by her quest. I listened closely to her anecdotes, accompanied her to a search conference, participated in a workshop for adoptees and non-adoptees, and was with her when she met her half-brother for the first (and only) time.

Eventually, my friend found her birth mother and father, dealt with the strife in her heart, and made peace with her past. But to my surprise, the subject of adoption gripped me and wouldn't let go. The wildly conflicting emotions kicked up by her search continued to reverberate in me, and a decade later, when I was pregnant with my third son, I found myself working on a novel about an ESL teacher who feels stalled in her life and who is propelled into a search for her birth mother.

What I thought I was doing was exploring both the complicated questions about family life that had been rattling around my mind for almost a decade--How important are blood ties? What does it really mean to be a mother? Is family defined by blood connections or proximity? How much does family history matter?--and issues related to being an undervalued, overworked English teacher.

But a novel is born from hidden places in a writer's heart, and the plot line tells only part of the story. I confess that my characters had me fooled until long after I had finished my first draft. Then suddenly, I recognized that it wasn't only the subjects of adoption and teaching that had seized my imagination: it was the complex and mysterious process of emotional growth that I was exploring--a subject that affects all human beings. What I was really trying to figure out was: What childhood myths must a person give up in order to grow up ...at any age?

Now I understood why I had keyed into my friend's story and identified with her plight, why the questions she faced had resonated in me so deeply. Though I had not searched for a missing parent or child, I was searching for missing parts of myself. I, too, felt stifled by my habit of denial. I, too, struggled to confront uncomfortable truths about myself. I, too, was learning to take emotional risks in order to stretch my life into a new shape.

By awakening Sarah Bridges from her dreamlike state and forcing her to confront the facts of her life, I dramatized an emotional trip we all must take in one form or another if we are to enlarge our lives. Whether we have been adopted or have grown up in our families of origin, it is necessary to take a careful look at myths we have created about ourselves and our families. And then we need to summon the courage to set out on that perilous, terrifying, but ultimately rewarding journey of self-discovery that allows us to create deeper, richer, more authentic lives.

Nancy Newman has an M.A. in English literature. She taught remedial English in junior and senior high schools and writing courses at City University of New York. She has offered her workshop, "Raising Passionate Readers," to thousands of parents and teachers in the New York area. Ms. Newman is married and has three sons. She lives with her family in New York City.

CONTACT Nancy Newman:
email address:nancy_newman@mindspring.com
mailing address:1202 Lexington Avenue, #132, New York, NY 10028

"In this thoroughly enjoyable book, a devoted teacher of foreign students discovers an age-old conundrum: What to do when what we find is not what we expected. Newman's characters, sharp, witty and curious, remind us the journey is worthy, no matter the outcome. A delicious read."
--Beverly Gologorsky, author of The Things We Do To Make It Home

"Nancy Newman's 'coming of age' story...is a captivating novel. The author's ability to capture the uncertainties, the frustration, and the reconciliation of a less-than-perfect family is right on target. The book grabbed my attention from the beginning and I read it straight through. This is a book I look forward to re-reading."
--Nancy Ashe, ABOUT.COM

"Sarah is such an engaging character--smart, sexy, quirky, dedicated to her immigrant students. The writing is crisp and witty--it moved me along."
--Professor Patricia Laurence, City University of New York

"Deftly told, heartfelt...offers a fresh perspective on the complexity of mother-daughter relationships. Follow the story of a woman approaching personal and professional meltdown, as she unlocks the secrets of her past."
--WomenWorking 2000

"A sometimes serious, often humorous, light and entertaining read. This is the story of Sarah Bridges, who is rapidly approaching her 35th Birthday and has become obsessed with finding her birth mother...an engaging first novel and certainly not your typical mother-daughter book."
--Night Times On-Line

"As the compelling story unfolds, the reader is caught up in the suspense of Sarah's odyssey. Will she find her birthmother? If so, what will happen when they meet? The author writes convincingly of the emotional turmoil, hopes and fears of an individual searching for that missing piece of her past. The book will resonate with readers whose lives have been affected by adoption. For those who have not, it will be an education."
--Patricia Mans, NACzine

"Definitely one of the MUST READS for all triad members. Sarah's plight is right on target. Perfect!"
--Karen DeLuca, Founder, P.A. Adoption Reunion Registry

"This book grabbed me right from the first page. I like search stories...and it never disappointed."
--Eileen Heil, author of Earth Angel and Happily Ever

"Nancy Newman brings humor and insight into some of the identity issues that are common for many of the people who are...still struggling to figure out the seminal issues about who they are and where they came from."
--Dr. Joyce Pavao, author of The Family of Adoption; Founder of The Center For Family Connections, Cambridge, Mass.

"The author portrays the very real feelings and fears of individuals who search for answers about their own identity. She beautifully addresses adoptee and search issues, and, at the same time, provides an enjoyable work of fiction. Highly recommended reading for those touched by adoption, as well as those who are not."
--Kathleen Silbur, Assoc. Dir., Independent Adoption Center

"I LOVED it! Read it in a single day and READ IT ALL! You really captured so many of the feelings we have along the way; I resonated over and over with your heroine. Three cheers (and more!) from a new member of your fan club!"
--Pam Hasegawa, Founder and Editor, Adoption News Service

"Disturbing The Peace is WONDERFUL! The fact that this is not an 'adoption' book, but a book about adoption, is incredibly powerful. I loved it and especially so for anyone with a connection to adoption."
--Susan Soon-Keum Cox, Holt International Children Services

"I love Disturbing The Peace. And the fact that it is a novel that just happens to include an adoption story makes me love it that much more. Nancy Newman's insights into the world of adoption, and her perceptions of the search experiences are so real..."
--Ronny Diamond, Director of Adoption, Spence-Chapin Family Services

"Thought provoking, and...educational. I enjoyed reading it."
--Karen Vedder, President, Concerned United Birth Mothers

"Sarah Bridges is a woman of 35 who is unable to commit to anyone or understand herself fully until she searches for and finds her first mother...the book is easy to read and fun. For those who want a love story to read, this novel provides some reasonably accurate understandings of adoption's deleterious effects on those adopted and the mothers who lose their children to adoption."
--Sandra Pace, Canadian Council of Birth Mothers

"Nancy Newman has captured the essence of the adoptee's inner world in this new novel. Disturbing the Peace is a compelling, true-to-life story of an adopted woman's search for her past, the key to her future."
--Joe Soll, author of Adoption Healing...A Path To Recovery

Disturbing The Peace weaves a wonderful tale. The author explores an adoptee's journey with emotional honesty."
--Deborah Blanchard, ODS Adoption Community of New England