Finding Rosa
A Mother with Alzheimer's, a Daughter in Search of the Past
by Caterina Edwards
- Winner, F.G. Bressani Prize
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When her mother, Rosa, begins to show signs of dementia, Caterina Edwards embarks on myriad journeys — geographical, intellectual, emotional — that become a search for the meaning of the past and of home. As Rosa loses her memory and her self, Edwards travels to Istria, now part of Croatia. There she discovers the suppressed history of Istria — the ethnic cleansing of her mother's people — and uncovers Rosa's personal losses.
Caught in that ever-growing ""sandwich generation"" of women caring for both their children and their ailing, aging parents, Edwards balances the demands of raising teenage daughters with the pressure of dealing with her deteriorating mother. And in leaving her place of comfort and travelling into the past and into the future, Edwards braves the darkness with and for her mother.
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close this panel"""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."""
"""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."""
"""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."""
"""Caterina gives us her experiences in an openly honest portrayal of the frustrations she encounters. In finding her mother she is also finding herself."""
"""Edwards had produced a competent, engaging, even a (historically speaking) groundbreaking work."""
"""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."""
"""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."""
"""Caterina gives us her experiences in an openly honest portrayal of the frustrations she encounters. In finding her mother she is also finding herself."""
"""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."""
"""Edwards had produced a competent, engaging, even a (historically speaking) groundbreaking work."""
