{"product_id":"9780620700719","title":"Umbilicus: An autobiographical novel","description":"Charlotte van Katwijk guards herself like a secret. Kids are cruel, and she knows if they find out she's adopted, she'll be a bully's easy target.\u003cp\u003eWhen they are fourteen, Charlotte's best friend's mom commits suicide. It triggers in Charlotte a sense of urgency to find her birth mother before it's too late, and the answers to her burning questions are taken to the grave.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSeven years later, a tormented Charlotte comes face to face with her past. Will discovering more about her biological parents, and the circumstances surrounding her relinquishment, be enough to lay her demons to rest?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUmbilicus is a coming-of-age story set in South Africa's biggest port city during the dying days of apartheid. The tumultuous zeitgeist of the era mirrors the inner turmoil of an angst-ridden adolescent as she grapples to form an identity and find her place in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Paula Gruben","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49895967686896,"sku":"9780620700719","price":8.43,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780620700719_p0.jpg?v=1784234793","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780620700719","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}