Review | ‘On the Outskirts of Normal,’ a white woman’s tender memoir about adopting her black daughter

By ANDREA HOAG

Special to The Star

“This is your little girl … are you sure?”

“That’s your daughter?”

Debra Monroe is accustomed to the questions.

After all, any white woman who adopts an African-American infant may expect to encounter a few raised eyebrows here and there.

As the talented memoirist explains in her riveting new book, “On the Outskirts of Normal,” the love Monroe shares with her 11-year-old daughter, Marie, triumphs over any of the racial complexities the two have experienced in their precious time together.

Not that it has been moonlight and magnolias. Far from it.