Pick Up The Caregiver Conceived By Samuel Park Displayed As Leaflet

written story of caring, choices and responsibility that spans USsupported corruption and terrorism in Brazil in thes and immigration issues and cancer in LA two decades later.
RIP, Samuel Park./. I was interested in both of Maras storylines, ie her childhood and her adulthood, but neither one ever felt fully fleshed out to me, The epilogue was a bust as I did not care at all about Bruno who was barely in the book before that point, The authors note at the end was a true heartbreaker, The book begins in California in thes when twenty six year old Mara Alencar, an undocumented immigrant from Brazil is a caregiver to an affluent woman with stomach cancer.
In these early pages, I found Maras reactions to America fascinating and so enlightening as she tells of all of the things she has been surprised about in the ten years she has been in America.
The narrative describes these things for several pages how much is free here, public bathrooms, so many cars, that single women could be friends with married women, that it wasnt okay for husbands to beat their wives, how everyone could eat at restaurants, that not everyone was white, grandparents lived separate from their grandchildren, that there were no words for certain things and so much more in these pages.
This gave me a perspective that I quite honestly had not given much thought about, how strange things here might seem to an immigrant, Mara as an immigrant is only one facet of the story,

This is a multilayered story which covers a number of themes in a cohesive way, We are soon taken back to her childhood in this well written, first person narrative, taking us to Copacabana, Brazil in thes when she was eight years old.
Its in this time and place that we get a glimpse of the unconditional love of a mother for her daughter as her mother Ana gets caught up in a political scheme with a police chief who tortures people and the dissidents, the rebel guerrillas.
Ana is a voice over actress who will do what it takes to provide for her daughter, even putting herself in danger, A horrific event takes place before Maras eyes and over the years Maras view of what happened and her mothers role is never clear for her, She loves her mother and at the same time believes the worst about her,

There is yet another layer here with Maras role as a caregiver, How Kathryn deals with her illness is poignantly described and is even more impactful knowing that Samuel Park knew of which he wrote, dying of stomach cancer after this novel was written.
Its a captivating story about many things, not the least of which is a mothers love for her daughter and a young woman coming to terms with the past.


I received an advanced copy of this book from Simon amp Schuster through NetGalley, !! NOW AVAILABLE !!

“You taught me precious secrets of the truth, withholdin' nothin'
You came out in front and I was hiding
But now I'm so much better so if my words don't come together
Listen to the melody 'cause my love's in there hiding

“But I love you in a place where there's no space or time
I've loved you for my life, yes, you're a friend of mine
And when my life is over, remember when we were together
We were alone and I was singin' my song for you, yes
We were alone and I was singin' this song for you, baby
We were alone and I was singin' my song
Singin' this song for you”

A Song For You, Leon Russell, Songwriters: Leon Russell

This story begins with the prelude in Bel Air, California in the earlys with Mara Alencar, who is at that timeyears old, and an undocumented home caregiver for a woman, Mrs.
Kathryn Weatherly, divorced, is in her early forties, and has been diagnosed with stomach cancer,

The story then leaves thes and California and takes a step back in time, and place, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the midtolates, Mara is, at this point, eight years old, and she and her mother Ana are living in Copacabana, when a song in America, Copacabana sends American tourists there in droves.


Ana does voiceovers for actresses, dubbing over their English to Portuguese, and is attractive enough that men turn and stare as she walks by, a fact that doesnt go unnoticed by Mara.
Mara has never known her father, and Ana doesnt want to discuss him with her, hes the past and together they are the future, Money is tight and, after much convincing, shes persuaded to take a job shed prefer to decline, The problem is, this job involves the student guerillas, revolutionaries, and the police,

Back ins Bel Air, Mara struggles in caring for Kathryn, her fear of reliving those days before she came to America, and as these days of giving care to Kathryn go on, the roles begin to blur more, while Kathryn speaks of leaving her house to Mara, and speaking of her to others as her daughter.
Kathryn speaks more frequently of her fears of dying, words that haunt Mara, and she finds herself revisiting old memories of the days caring for her mother,

Beautifully written, this is Parks final novel, a poignant story of life with all its struggles, of love in all its variations, the push and pull of maternal love, the confidential and clandestine nature of romantic love, a moving contemplation of the end of our days and of those with whom we share our love.


Shortly after he finished writing this novel, Parks own battle with stomach cancer came to an end, leaving us with this, a final gift,



Pub Date:SEP


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Simon amp Schuster Beautifully written The Caregiver explores the caregiving relationship between a mother and daughter during the tumultuous times in's Rio de Janeiro.
Two decades later the daughter is living in California working as a caregiver for a woman suffering from cancer,

Unfortunately this is the last novel we will have the pleasure of reading from Samuel Park as he passed away after shortly after finishing this book, Park was a talented writeralthough the book is a shortpages there are mutilple well developed characters and a range of events and emotions,

Coming in Septemberfrom Simon amp Schuster, What does very high expectations do to a book For one it makes you pick it up, excited and tantalized, But it sets a high bar for the ride, I enjoyed this and it grew on me more, particularly at the end it became really interesting, But I didn't love it, like top ten worthy, I found it compelling certainly Samuel Park is a gifted writer, But what made the book stellar and enriched further for me, was the authors note at the end, I am not one for spoilers of any kind, but I did find that the authors life experience and how that wove into the story and its lens, raised it, and has kept it in my thoughts this morning.
stars.mother daughter
My reviews can be seen here: sitelink wordpress

Ana Alencar is everything to her daughter, Mara, She is the provider, the one who supplies endless love, and the one who makes a mistake that will impact not only herself but also her daughter,

Brazil is in turmoil, There are rebel groups, student revolutionaries, and an aura of danger, of persecution and death that inhabits everyday, Ana is a voice over actress scrapping enough together to just get by but she makes life happy and loving for her daughter, They are each other's rock, their port in a storm, their reason

for living, They are each other's caregivers,

However, Ana is forced to make a decision, a choice that will impact everything moving forward and will eventually force her daughter, Mara, to escape, to emigrate to America, where she will once again be a caregiver to a woman dying of cancer.
The memories for Mara return and she finds herself in another caregiver environment once again not of her choosing,

Told with emotion, this book explores the intricate to and fro between mothers and their daughters, I do have to say that Mr Park got this relationship just right, We love our mothers, but at times that tenuous line does break and we find ourselves not understanding how this relationship hit upon rocky ground,

I definitely recommend this book for the way in which it presented not only a relationship but the times that brought that relationship to its difficult conclusion.


Thank you to Samuel Park who tragically died of stomach cancer at the age of fortyone, Simon and Schuster, and NetGalley for providing this book to me for an honest review.
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