Learned about this book reading the December issue of New Mexico Magazine. When I read it is a riveting mystery underscoring the complexities around the adoption of Indigenous children by non-Indigenous parents – I had to know more !!
I found this at ReadingReality.net – LINK>Book Review. From that I had to google a definition for bilagáana. I learned that is an early Navajo term for white American male. My in-laws were fond of books by Tony Hillerman. He died in 2008. Anne is his daughter.
Joe Leaphorn, a retired Navajo Tribal Police detective, discovers that his client’s adoption was questionable, and her adoptive family not what they seem.
From the review – “Exploring the emotionally complex issues of adoption of Indigenous children by non-native parents, Anne Hillerman delivers another thought-provoking, gripping mystery that brings to life the vivid terrain of the American Southwest, its people, and the lore and traditions that make it distinct.”
Missing Mom 