Press Kit

Dr. Beare’s Daughter

Growing Up Adopted, Adored, and Afraid

by Janice Jones

A Memoir

Publication date: September 20, 2024

Paperback

ISBN: 979-8-9890978-0-7

Kindle ebook

ISBN: 979-8-9890978-1-4

Audiobook (narrated by the author)

ISBN: 979-8-9890978-2-1

Available on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Spotify, and most places where books are sold. Available from libraries via Libby.

Summary

It was 1947 in Celina, Ohio, when charismatic doctor and surgeon, Ralph Beare and his socialite wife, Lou, childless and in their early forties, adopted a four-and-a-half-month-old infant they named Janice Lucinda. Janice—and everyone else—knew she was adopted, and everyone recognized Dr. Beare’s Daughter on sight. With her red hair and freckles, she looked nothing like her dark-haired parents. She also said and did things her parents did not expect of their own child.

Being privileged with opportunities and experiences not afforded her classmates, Jance found herself an outlier at school. At home, she struggled to be that elusive, golden child she imagined her parents really wanted—their own. She also struggled with the strict rules of the Catholic Church and the norms of Celina. Being Dr. Beare’s Daughter came with an erasure of her own identity. Despite her efforts to be their perfect child, there was a small voice, deep inside her, that popped up at the most inconvenient times, saying, “I’m here.” Try as she might to silence it, her true self sometimes slipped out to take charge, and then there was trouble.

Reviews

“. . . brutally honest . . . a compelling work . . . GET IT.” — Kirkus Reviews – Read Full Article »
“Moving story of an adopted daughter’s search for her own voice.”— Booklife – Read Full Article »
“Dr. Beare’s Daughter boasts uniquely idiosyncratic characters who come alive in Jones’s skilled hands.”— Booklife Prize – Read Full Article »
“Well-written and poignant . . . Feelings and experiences to which many adoptees will relate. I recommend this engaging book.” — Betsie Norris, Founder and Executive Director, Adoption Network Cleveland – Read Full Article »

About Janice Jones

Jones was adopted as an infant and grew up as the privileged child of a respected surgeon and his socialite wife. She grew up to have a career as a freelance editor and writer. She also worked as a dog obedience instructor, book buyer for a large independent bookstore, and she invented a way to use jigsaw puzzles to teach reading skills to children. Her hobbies are riding her ebike, gardening, sewing, and playing guitar, piano, and Cajun accordion with other musicians. Dr. Beare’s Daughter is her fourth published book.

In 1990, Macmillan and Random House published Jones’ young adult novel, Secrets of a Summer Spy. In 2002, her novel, Cousin Feely won the EPIC award for best mainstream novel. Creative Learning Press published Creating A Page Turner: A Helpbook for Young Writers, used in public schools as part of the Language Arts Curriculum.

Interview with Janice Jones

Q: Why did you want to be a writer?
A: As a lonely, only child, I loved reading books—they were my windows to the wider world. I lived across the street from Louise Steintorf, a New York Times best-selling author. I admired how she could use words to reach people and impact their thinking. I wanted to develop that power in myself.

Q: What motivated you to write a memoir? And why now?
A: I wanted to let my descendants know what it was like for me, growing up as an only privileged child in the 1950’s and ‘60s. When I turned 76, I realized that time was moving quickly, and I’d better get busy. I planned on writing it just for my family.

Q: What caused you to change your mind and publish it?
A: While I’m an adoptee, I viewed my adoption as a small part of my story. But as I poured words onto the page, I found myself back in the body of the child that I once was, feeling what she felt back then. I began to understand that I was writing about more than the people and events of my early life—I was writing the story of how I erased my own identity and silenced my own voice in my struggle to be that elusive, golden child I thought my parents really wanted— their own. And so, I let that long-ago, lost girl write her story in her own voice for the first time. When I finished writing, I felt that I owed it to my young self to let her voice be heard in the world. I held my breath and gave her a megaphone.

Q: How long did it take you to write your memoir?
A: About 15 months. Getting started was like a train struggling to leave the station with a heavy load. But once I got started, like the train, I picked up speed.

Q: How were you able to remember the details of events that happened in your childhood?
A: The traumatic scenes from my early life were so imprinted on my brain that I could remember what people were wearing and sometimes their exact words. Other things had grown fuzzy over the years, but I was able to get them back by creating a timeline and looking at old photos. Then those memories sparked other memories.