Finding Rosa
Find at your local bookstore
978-1-77439-064-1 | 2022 June | 444 Pages
ABOUT THIS BOOK
When her mother, Rosa, begins to show signs of dementia, Caterina Edwards embarks on a myriad of journeys — geographical, intellectual, emotional — that turn out to be part of one journey, a search for the meaning of the past and of home. During the four years she cares for Rosa, Edwards must navigate between conflicting responsibilities to self, family, and work while dealing with her mother's confusion, hostility, paranoia, and fear, and her own physical and emotional exhaustion. As Rosa loses her memory and her self, Edwards travels to Istria, now part of Croatia, where she discovers a suppressed history of ethnic cleansing, loss, and displacement that altered Rosa’s life course irrevocably. This frank memoir limns a multifaceted history of two women in crisis, one struggling to maintain a sense of self against the demands of disease and the weight of a dark past, the other seeking understanding and solace in the face of something that resists both.
This new ebook edition of Finding Rosa features a Foreword by William Boelhoewer.
- Winner of the Wilfred Eggleston Award for Non-Fiction at the Alberta Literary Awards
“Edwards had produced a competent, engaging, even a (historically speaking) groundbreaking work.”
~ Literary Review of Canada
“Caterina gives us her experiences in an openly honest portrayal of the frustrations she encounters. In finding her mother she is also finding herself.”
~ Vista Magazine
“Finding Rosa ... is a funny, searching, honest, and deeply compassionate book. Anyone who has ever cared for an aging relative or a challenging child (or both), anyone who has ever felt burdened by the demands of the caregiver role will sympathize with Edwards' predicament.”
— Susan Olding, Prairie Fire
“Finding Rosa is a fascinating story of two journeys. The first is Rosa's, as Alzheimer's disease leads this ageing woman deep into the netherworld of fear, confusion and loneliness. The second journey belongs to her daughter, Edmonton author Caterina Edwards, as she tries to cope with her mother's decline by delving into Rosa's mysterious and troubled past.”
— National Post
“Finding Rosa is a compelling work by a skilled writer who draws the reader along on two intensely personal journeys: Rosa's and her own.”
— Judy Schultz, Edmonton Journal
“Memory is the only way home,” says one of the chapter epigraphs. This book is a beautiful and brave exploration of this wisdom.”
— Leona Gom, Alberta Views
“With this book, Caterina Edwards confirms that she is a thoroughbred writer, who was able to turn her personal story into a universal one.”
— Giordano Lupi, Kulture Underground (review of Italian edition)
“In the able hands of this writer, Rosa’s story also becomes a type of archeological dig that brings to light the forgotten story of a population’s exile and suffering.”
— Maria Cristina Coppini, Mangialibri (review of Italian edition)
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