Looking for something inspirational to read? Loving Emma: A Story of Reluctant Motherhood by Carol A. Ortlip looks like it could fit the bill. It’s the story of a woman who, childfree at almost 50, agrees to adopt her partner’s 6 year old niece.

Most memoirs speak of family, innocence lost, secrets hidden and later unearthed-or of discoveries that can heal as well as scar. Loving Emma is such a story. It will appeal to all of us who have been a part of a complicated family, who have had to reach into ourselves for the strength and courage to rise to the challenges that face us.

Loving Emma is a rich and candid account of one woman’s struggle to be a parent. About to turn fifty, she is asked to take in and raise her partner Gemma’s six-year-old niece. Unwilling and resentful of the task at the start, the author ultimately triumphs over adversity-and tells her tale with tenderness, humor, and blunt honesty. It is also the story of how women nurture children in a culture that is not always supportive, but in a community that always is. Carol A. Ortlip handles the topics of midlife crises, substance abuse, and problems of child-rearing with great aplomb.

Carol A. Ortlip, a special education teacher, has held a variety of jobs, from crab-fisher in Alaska to horse-drawn cab driver in Manhattan. She is the author of We Became Like a Hand: A Story of Five Sisters, a family memoir of sisterhood. She has her own weekly radio show in Vermont. Amazon review

Give it a try — it sounds excellent.