Two Sylvias Press
  • Home
  • Chapbook Prize
  • Online Poetry Retreat
  • The Weekly Muse
  • Weekly Muse Calendar
  • Books/Products
  • Two Sylvias Store
  • The Poet Tarot
  • Our Authors
  • About
  • Contact
  • Cart (-)
  • Two Sylvias Store
  • >
  • Essays and Memoir
  • >
  • Phantom Son: A Mother's Story of Surrender (price includes shipping)
Loading...

Phantom Son: A Mother's Story of Surrender (price includes shipping)

SKU: null
$17.00
$17.00
Unavailable
per item


FOR INTERNATIONAL ORDERS (Canada included): Please email Two Sylvias Press (twosylviaspress@gmail.com) listing the item(s) you would like to order and quantity. We will send you an invoice with the international shipping amount.


*By Sharon Estill Taylor (Two Sylvias Press, 2015)


Praise for Phantom Son:


Dr. Sharon Estill Taylor has written a highly readable and illuminating account of her experience as a birthmother in the sixties. With a keen eye for detail and a wry sense of humor, she vividly recounts the ways the no-questions-asked cultural forces of the time swept her toward the surrender of her son. Though steamrolled by a process that gave her no say, Dr. Taylor persevered and found her voice as an early champion of sensitive search and reunion. —Jim Gritter, author of The Spirit of Open Adoption, Lifegivers, and Hospitious Adoption


In Phantom Son, Dr. Sharon Estill Taylor tells her own story of being an unwed mother at age 18 in the early 1960s. It bridges a time when unwed women endured devastating discrimination and pressure to give up their parental rights to a time when searching for and finding these children was more accepted and facilitated by society. There are smaller sub-stories, including one about the author’s loss of her father who was killed in World War II, and how that event affected her family over the decades; and another about her experience of sex and identity-formation in the 1960s. These sub-stories are fascinating and contribute to the gripping nature of this book. Beyond all, this is a story of grief, courage, and redemption. The lives of most people are filled with issues and complexities that only can be addressed by storytelling. Taylor does that with grace and eloquence. —John Harvey, Editor of the Journal of Loss and Trauma, and Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, University of Iowa


Dr. Sharon Estill Taylor's account of her unintended pregnancy and her subsequent traumatic adoption process in the 1960s is an important reminder of how far we have come as a society in terms of the acceptance of out of wedlock births. Instead of the rampant shaming and secrecy surrounding these pregnancies, these commonplace events are now tolerated and even celebrated. This is how it should be as the impact of societal and religious silencing and shame heaped upon these mothers in the 1960s was nothing short of traumatic abuse, as Dr. Taylor tells us in her book. This is an important read for anyone, but I particularly recommend this book for those whose lives have been affected by the disenfranchised grief of coerced adoption. —Deborah Stokes, PhD, Director of The Better Brain Center, Washington, DC


In Phantom Son, Dr. Sharon Estill Taylor shares her journey as an unwed mother in the 1960s and her courageous search for the son she had to give up. Her grief and loss give way to the formation of wonderful familial relationships. In the tradition of the Irish story teller, Dr. Taylor gives her readers a powerful gift that will resonate in their own lives. —Fr. Kilian J. Malvey, O.S.B., Professor of Theology, Saint Martin's University


As a reunited adoptee, I never tire of reading about reunions. In Dr. Sharon Estill Taylor's Phantom Son, the reader experiences the author’s journey from love-struck teenager to expectant mother to powerful advocate for other birthmothers. Dr. Taylor vividly describes how she was forced to physically separate from her son and how she kept the emotional connection alive in her soul. Dr. Taylor’s writing is raw, open, and honest; important qualities when dealing with such emotional subject matter. —Christine Murphy, author of Taking Down the Wall

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google+
Add to Cart

About Us

Our Editors / Co-Founders
Our Authors
Our Books
Contact
The Poet Tarot
Newsletter
​The Weekly Muse

Publications

CREATIVITY & CRAFT BOOKS / APPS:
The Whimsical Muse: Poetic Play for Busy Creatives
Everything is Writable
​PR For Poets
​The Poet Tarot: A Deck of Creative Exploration
The Daily Poet
The Daily Poet Companion Journal
Emily Dickinson: A Blank Journal
Walt Whitman: A Blank Journal
Sylvia Plath: A Blank Journal
The Poet Tarot App (iPhone)
The Poet Tarot App (Android/Google Play)

PRINT BOOKS & eBOOKS:
All Transparent Things Need Thundershirts
​American Zero
​Appalachians Run Amok
Arab In Newsland
At Night My Body Waits
Blood Song
Box
​Community Chest
Crown of Wild
Deathbed Sext
Demystifying the Manuscript
Disappearing Queen
Earth
Fire Girl
Fire On Her Tongue
​Hallucinating a Homestead
Horns
In The House Of My Father
Killing Marias
landscape / heartbreak
Letters, Unwritten
​Mytheria
​Naming The No-Name Woman
Nightmares & Miracles
Omena Bay Testament
Pass It On!
Phantom Son: A Mother's Story of Surrender
Shade of Blue Trees
She Returns to the Floating World 
The Authenticity Experiment
​The Blue Black Wet of Wood
The Call of Paradise
The Cardiologist's Daughter
The Ego and the Empiricist
The Inspired Poet
​Tsigan: The Gypsy Poem
What The Truth Tastes Like
Where The Horse Takes Wing

eBOOK ONLY:
Hourglass Museum 
Cloud Pharmacy
Dear Alzheimer's 
Listening to Mozart 




Opportunities:

Two Sylvias' Weekly Muse (subscription)
30 Prompts For National Poetry Month
Online Advent Calendar of Poetry Prompts
Online Poetry Retreats
The Wilder Series Poetry Book Prize
The Two Sylvias Press Chapbook Prize
The Russell Prize
Poem Critiques

Picture

​Special Projects:​

Pass It On! (Children's Book) on Kickstarter
​
The Poet Tarot on Kickstarter
(c) Two Sylvias Press, 2022
  • Guest Critique Poets
  • Zoom Classes