Identity, faith, and betrayal dominate Tucker’s introspective debut about a woman who learns she was adopted, and how that knowledge affects her relationships with her parents, her rabbi, and her girlfriend. Austin Noble, a robotics-engineering student in Richmond, Va., receives her birth certificate while preparing to apply for a passport, and discovers she was adopted, prompting Austin to confront her obstinate adoptive parents. To make matters worse, Austin’s fashion model girlfriend, Lauren, has just suddenly left her, and her search for her birth parents dovetails with revelations of secrets Lauren was keeping from her. Consolation and compassion come from Rivka, her best friend and an associate rabbi at her Reform Jewish community, who helps her navigate Jewish law: Austin was not born Jewish, but she doesn’t want to lose her place in the community. Meanwhile, Austin finds new romance and tracks down her birth mother through social media, DNA tests, ancestry websites, and an adoption support group. Tucker methodically handles Austin’s questioning of her identity and her faith and gives readers plenty to chew on. It’s a well well-constructed character study. (Self-published)