My Mother’s Funeral (Memoir) - Softcover

Páramo, Adriana

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1933880392 ISBN 13: 9781933880396

Publisher: CavanKerry Press, 2013

Synopsis

My Mother’s Funeral circles around the death of the author’s mother, but what also emerges is a landscape of personal loss and pain, of innocence, humor, violence and beauty. Drawing heavily upon her childhood experiences and Colombian heritage, Páramo describes the volatile bond linking mothers and daughters in a culture largely unknown to Americans. The book moves between past (Colombia in the 1940s) and present lives, and maps scenes both geographical (Bogotá, Medellín, Anchorage) as well as psychological--ultimately revealing the indomitable spirit of the women in her family. Especially from Páramo’s mother the reader learns what it means to be a Colombian woman.

About this title

About the Author:

ADRIANA PARAMO is a Colombian writer and anthropologist whose book Looking for Esperanza won the Social Justice and Equality Award in creative nonfiction.

Review:

“Páramo paints a portrait of two women—mother and daughter—in a volatile relationship that, in the end, is shaped by the strong bond of love between them. Set against a backdrop of Bogotá street violence and Medellín drug lords, My Mother’s Funeral is a big book in which the personal lives of the beautiful and vulnerable are set in high relief against cultural and historical forces that shape, but do not contain them.” (Steven Harvey, author of A Geometry of Lilies, Lost in Translation, and Bound for Shady Grove.)

“Full of hope, tenderness, and redemption, My Mother’s Funeral is a memoir of astonishing beauty; a spellbinding and devastating meditation on the ways we are transformed by love and loss, and how we may leave our home, but our home never leaves us.” (Patricia Engel)

“My Mother’s Funeral offers not only a tribute to an exceptional matriarch, but presents a splendid portrait of her daughter’s heartbreaking journey to understanding the meaning of their relationship. Páramo’s heartfelt grieving and soulfully evoked searching is a most generous and unforgettable gift for which I cannot thank her enough.” (James Cañón, author of Tales from the Town of Widows)

“How can an elegy be a living thing? When it is My Mother’s Funeral by Adriana Páramo. She understands and plumbs the depths of the mother-daughter bond--complicated, thorny, radiant, complex and provides a necessary touchstone for anyone who is a child of a mother, anyone who has known loss and is trying to weave the threads of memory and forgiveness. Páramo is tender, brave and her aim is true. Do not hesitate to read this and feed your soul.” (Lisa Alvarado, author, Raw Silk Suture and Still, Life and is a contributor to Me no Habla with Acento)

About this edition

• Publisher: CavanKerry Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1933880392
• ISBN 13: 9781933880396
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 274