An Inside Look At An Unconventional Family

Aug. 23, 2011 - PRLog -- Author Lewis Luchs has delivered Children of the Manse, an intimate journey through adoption and foster care from the perspective of a child, combined with the memories and recovered past of the man he became.

In Children of the Manse a popular college town minister and his wife want to adopt a four-year-old girl but learn she has three older brothers and decide to welcome all four children into their home. Janey (four), Charlie (five), Billy (six), and Dick (seven), arrive from a bleak county children’ s home, bringing with them invisible histories of neglect and abuse.

This true story, based on case files and family interviews, opens with the children’s background and the oldest boy’s determined struggle to keep his family together. The four children barely survive ever worse threats as they lose the adults in their world to imprisonment, abandonment, and death. When all seems hopeless, a talented social worker intervenes, trying to change their fate.

The story then shifts to describe how their foster parents put in place programs to restore the physical and emotional health of their instant family while the children struggle to adjust to the upper middle class culture and university-sponsored grade school into which they have been plunged. Dick resists surrendering his role of “child parent” to his younger siblings. His attachment to their imprisoned biological father further complicates the picture while the eccentric personality of their clergyman foster father challenges all four children.

About the author: Lewis Richard Luchs is a retired Foreign Service officer who worked in seven capitals in Africa, Europe, and Asia and was promoted to the Senior Foreign Service in l985.  In retirement he served five years as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) and has had a lifelong interest in adoption and other children’s issues.  He has four sons and eight grandchildren of his own. He resides in Eugene, Oregon, with his wife, Sharon. Learn more at http://www.childrenofthemanse.com.

What they're saying about Children of the Manse: “What a powerful and moving tale…and what a happy ending!  For years I’ve served on the CASA Baltimore Board…I’ve passed this video on and a recommendation for the book to our executive director and the board.”
- Leslie D. Brown, Baltimore, MD

“This video is one of the most eloquent and convincing glimpses I have ever seen into the enormous scope of the human capacity for healing of early trauma. “
- Rod Gorney, MD, PhD, UCLA

Title: Children of the Manse
Author: Lewis Richard Luchs
Genre: Non-Fiction
ISBN: 978-0578035239
Publication Date: November 2009
Pages: 306
Price: $18.99
Publisher: Lewis Luchs

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