When Michael Mewshaw receives a call from a stranger who says she has reason to believe he is her biological father, Mewshaw realizes he has been half dreading, half hoping for this to happen for over thirty years. Just like the young woman who wants to find the last piece to the puzzle of her life, he thinks it's possible that in the same process he will discover the answer to questions that have plagued him for decades. But first he has to make sure that she is who she claims to be. In this fascinating memoir, Mewhsaw confronts his own past, the chaos of his family, and complicated memories of the woman he once loved who went on to success as an ambassador, Under Secretary of State and a member of one of America's most influential families. His unusual role in the baby's birth, her adoption and, now, her search for her biological parents sets the stage for a revealing personal odyssey that offers a quest for identity and a journey of discovery, an obsession with recapturing the past and righting old wrongs, the constant potential for disappointment balanced against the possibility of redemption. As he finds his old flame and her old lover, rediscovering who he was and who he has become, he finds his life enriched in the process.
"[A] real bond grew between the adopted child and the man who was not her father but who became her friend. Mewshaw helped Amy patiently and compassionately in spite of his hurts and shortcomings, just as he once helped her mother. There is courage in this exercise, and there is hope. Supported by loving families in the present, these two people went looking for an uncomfortable piece of the past
The Washington Post
"If You Could See Me Now is a work of art and stands shoulder to shoulder with the best memoirs of our age. Mewshaw's career is a pure wonder and If You Could See Me Now is his crowning achievement."
Pat Conroy
"Mewshaw's considerable skill as writer lends heart and spirit to his bittersweet chronicle.Mewshaw shares his memories poignantly and honestly... The results are powerful, indeed."
