Monday, February 3, 2014

My Mother's Funeral (Memoir) - TLC Book Tours


~ I received a copy of this book from the publisher or author to facilitate this review.  I received no compensation and opinions are 100% my own or my family. ~



Synopsis (from Amazon): Every woman has stories to tell about her mother. The mother that she remembers, the mother she wishes she’d had, the mother she doesn’t want to become, and then eventually, the mother she buries. Every immigrant woman has stories to tell about her homeland.  My Mother’s Funeral is a combination of both: Mother and Homeland.  The book circles around the death of Páramo’s mother but the landscape that emerges is not only one of personal loss and pain, but also of innocence, humor, violence and love.

Drawing heavily upon her childhood experiences and Colombian heritage, the author describes the volatile bond linking mothers and daughters in a culture largely unknown to Americans. The book moves between past (Colombia in the 1940’s) and present lives (USA in 2006), and maps landscapes both geographical (Bogotá, Medellín, Anchorage) as well as psychological, ultimately revealing the indomitable spirit of the women in her family, especially her mother from whom the reader learns what it means to be a woman in Colombia.

My Mother’s Funeral describes four Colombian generations of women who struggle, love, sing and die in a country of mysterious beauty as much as it charts the daunting and transforming process of the mother’s funeral and its unexpected byproduct:  the re-acquaintance with a long lost brother, the women in the family, and with them, the whole culture.

One (or more) Sentence Summary: My Mother's Funeral will make you laugh and cry.  I absolutely loved how Carmen put her children and God before anything else.  She was an amazing woman.  There were so many stories within the book that reminded me of my own childhood and mother.  I laughed at all the "catholic-belief" stories and know so many women just like Carmen.  I like to think of it as "the good old days."  

I am extremely jealous that Adriana has written this book.  I have written a book about my mother in my head, so many times.  I would love to honor her with a book.  Adriana had a very special relationship with her mother...as I did.  

Near the end of the book, when the family goes back to the Carmen's apartment after she has been cremated.....oh the lump in my throat.  I know all my siblings and I had so many things of my mom's that we each wanted for the same and different reasons. It is so hard to lose your mother, especially when she was the only one that was there your whole life.  Adriana does a beautiful job writing this memoir and honoring her entire family.  

Favorite Character(s):  Carmen!  What a strong, independent, amazing women.  

Fast read/slow read:  Average pace....not fast, but not slow.

Cover:  I love the vintage look!  It is perfect.
What Others Are Saying:  Check out what others are saying on the TLC Book Tour.


Monday, January 6th:  Read. Write. Repeat.
Wednesday, January 8th:  Patricia’s Wisdom
Sunday, January 12th:  Tiffany’s Bookshelf
Monday, January 13th:  Peeking Between the Pages
Tuesday, January 14th:  BookNAround
Thursday, January 16th:  Sarah’s Bookshelves
Monday, January 20th:  Book Dilettante
Wednesday, January 22nd:  Book Lust
Friday, January 24th:  Bibliotica
Tuesday, January 28th:  Svetlana’s Reads and Views
Monday, February 3rd:  Seaside Book Nook
Thursday, February 6th:  What She Read


Would I Read Other Books by the Author: Yes, but not on anthropology (sorry).



Páramo is a cultural anthropologist, writer and women’s rights advocate. Her book “Looking for Esperanza,” winner of the 2011 Social Justice and Equity Award in Creative Nonfiction (Benu Press) was one of the top ten best books by Latino authors in 2012, the best Women’s Issues Book at the 2013 International Latino Book Awards, and the recipient of a silver medal at the 2012 BOYA, Book of the Year Awards. She is also the author of “My Mother’s Funeral,” a CNF work set in Colombia released in October 2013 by Cavankerry Press.
Her work has been nominated three times for a Pushcart Prize and her essays have been included in the Notable American Essays of 2011 and 2012.
Her work has been recently published or is forthcoming in The Sun, the CNF Southern Sin Anthology (True Stories of the Sultry South & Women Behaving Badly), Minerva Rising, Redivider, Alaska Quarterly Review, The Los Angeles Review, American Athenaeum, Consequence Magazine, Fourteen Hills, Carolina Quarterly Review, Magnolia Journal, So To Speak, 580 Split, South Loop Review, New Plains Review, and the rest.
Currently she lives in Qatar, where she divides her time between writing and everything else. Everything else includes teaching zumba/Latin dance and Spanish lessons to Qatari students, among whom, there is a prince.

1 comment:

  1. I love that this book brought back good memories for you and reminded you of "the good old days."

    Thanks for being on the tour!

    ReplyDelete

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