Twice the Family

A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Sisterhood

by Julie Ryan McGue

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Pub Date Feb 04 2025 | Archive Date Dec 01 2024

She Writes Press

Biographies & Memoirs | Parenting & Families

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Description

Growing up as an adoptee and identical twin, Julie McGue will take you on her journey for identity and individuality, searching for answers through tragedy and adversity.

From the award-winning author of Twice a Daughter comes the much- anticipated prequel. In this coming-of-age memoir–set in Chicago’s western suburbs between the 1960s and 80s–adopted twins, Julie and Jenny, provide their parents with an instant family. The twins’ sisterly bond holds tight as the two strive for independence, individuality, and belonging. But as Julie’s parents continue adding children to their family, several painful and tragic experiences test family values, parental relationships, and sibling bonds.

Faced with these hurdles, Julie questions everything—who she is, how she fits in, and even her adoption circumstances. She understands her adoptive family is held together by love, faith, support, and her parents’ commitment to each other and their children.

And yet, the life her parents have constructed is not one Julie wants for herself. As she matures, she chooses her own unique path. In the process, she realizes how the experiences that formed her have provide a road map for the person and mother she wants to be.

A Note From the Publisher

Julie Ryan McGue is an American writer, a domestic adoptee, and an identical twin. Her first memoir, “Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging,” released in May 2021, winning multiple awards. Her work has appeared in the Story Circle Network Journal, Brevity Nonfiction Blog, Imprint News, Adoption.com, Lifetime Adoption Adoptive Families Blog, Adoption & Beyond, and Severance Magazine. Her personal essays have appeared in several anthologies, including “Real Women Write: Seeing Through Her Eyes” (Story Circle Network) and “Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis” (She Writes Press). Her collection of essays, “Belonging Matters: Conversations on Adoption, Family, and Kinship” (Muse Literary), released in November 2023. She writes a biweekly blog and monthly column (The Beacher Newspapers), in which she explores the topics of finding out who you are, where you belong, and making sense of it. Julie splits her time between Northwest Indiana and Sarasota, Florida. “Twice the Family: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Sisterhood” is her third book.

Advance Praise

“Explores the resilient bond between twins, the realities of adoption, and the peaks and

heartbreaking valleys of an American family.” — Andrew Tallackson, Editor, The Beacher Weekly Newspaper

“A testament to how life hands us opportunities to heal even in the presence of gut-wrenching

Grief.” — Kim Fairley, author of “Swimming for My Life” and “Shooting Out the Lights”

“An inspiring read for anyone seeking to understand the power of family, the search for self, and the resilience of the human spirit.” — Diane O’Canto, media professional, podcast host, empowerment champion.

“Gripping, raw, and profound.” — Jennifer Dyan Ghoston, author of “The Truth So Far”

and podcaster

“A thoughtful, brave, and compassionate story…McGue rings resilience.” — Diane Wheaton, author of “Finding Loretta”

“Intimate coming-of-age memoir about fragility and preciousness of life.” — Rikki West, author of “Rootlines” and “The Empty Bowl”

“The pursuit of adopted identity and belonging continues. Five Stars!” — Mary Ellen Gambutti, author of “I Must Have Wandered”

“A poignant view of a childhood mixed with love, laughter, sadness, life as an adoptee, and a peek into a life lived with an identical twin sister.” — Emma Stevens (aka Linda Pevac), author of “The Gathering Place” and “A Fire Is Coming”

“Explores the resilient bond between twins, the realities of adoption, and the peaks and

heartbreaking valleys of an American family.” — Andrew Tallackson, Editor, The Beacher Weekly Newspaper

“A...