This little novel is made up of so many sparkling parts. My favorite was Mara as an 8 year old, living with her beloved mother in a neighborhood of Rio de Janiero. Short on money and desperate to provide for Mara, her mother gets swept up in a student rebel group's scheme to take down a corrupt police chief. Park writes with such amazing warmth and spirit - the sections of her childhood in Brazil just dazzled.

Intermittently, the narrative jumps to present day California, where Mara is a caregiver to a wealthy woman dying of stomach cancer. While these passages weren't as compelling, they were still so readable and built on the early years of Mara's life. Secrets emerging from the past start to change the telling of her own history.

A lot of the emotions I felt when reading this book were tied to the fact that the author died before seeing this published. Every time I read a beautiful sentence or felt connected to a character, I was reminded that the world won't be getting any more writing from Park. The story is made even more poignant by Park's inclusion of one character living with stomach cancer (what he ultimately died from). I really appreciated Park's ability to create the authentic character of Mara, a Brazilian woman who immigrates to the US after a troubled childhood full of violence and political upheaval. Mara becomes a caregiver (one of the few jobs she feels she's qualified to do) for a wealthy American woman; it's in her care for her employer that she can reflect back on the many ways she parented her mercurial and unstable mother. Her story as a child in Brazil is fraught with danger and suspense and rich characters that the reader immediately feels drawn to. The only thing keeping me from rating this 5 stars is that some of the side storylines drew away from the ultimate themes of the novel and the ending felt rushed. Still a compelling and emotional read.

I thought this book was interesting, but could not find my footing nor was I really engaged. Perhaps it's just a consequence of the time, but I have to DNF this one all the same. Nevertheless, thanks for allowing me to read in advance — I really love the cover!

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.

Samuel Park's The Caregiver offers an uneven exploration of the mother-daughter bond and the ways it can play out during periods of violence and peacetime. In this case, the mother is Ana, the daughter is Mara, and they are struggling to survive during the 1980s in Brazil. Ana's primary work is as a voice-over actress, but to make ends meet she takes on an "acting" job of a different sort, helping rebels in a plot to free prisoners. We see the results of this choice—both their immediate aftermath and their long term repercussions—through Mara's eyes. Years later, Mara is working as a caregiver in the U.S. and still trying to come to terms with her mother's choices.

The weaknesses here are plot- and character-based. Most of the book moves slowly, then the last bit rushes through years' worth of events in a few pages. The relationship between Mara and the son of a police captain who tortured Ana is difficult to accept as Park presents it. The book provides interesting moments, but is never fully successful.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this early copy,

I sadly struggled to connect with this one. It was well-written but just not for me.

I loved the heart of this novel, which was the deeply loving relationship between Mara Alencar and her mother, Ana. Ana has raised Mara as a single mother in Brazil, living a hand-to-mouth existence as a Portuguese voice-over artist for American films. With money tight, Ana accepts a hazardous job acting as a decoy to distract a corrupt police chief for a band of revolutionaries who want to free their comrades from his jail. Things go awry, leading to a misunderstanding between Mara and Ana that casts a shadow over their relationship.

Mara ends up as an immigrant in America, where she works as a caregiver for a woman dying of stomach cancer. Mara’s story as Kathryn’s caregiver is interspersed between the threads of Mara’s story with her mother in Brazil.

Ultimately, I thought the execution of the novel was muddied by too many unnecessary characters and side stories that detracted from its emotional heart. I didn’t really “feel” the Kathryn/Mara thread nor did I fully grasp how that story thread complemented the Mara/Ana storyline.

Sadly, the author Samuel Park passed away just after finishing this novel. He died of stomach cancer, which surely informed the development of his character Kathryn. A sad loss for us readers!

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC of this novel. My review, however, is based on the hardcover version.

This is a beautifully written book about the relationship between a mother and daughter and what lengths a mother would be willing to go for her daughter. The characters are very well developed and the book is full of heart and compassion.

A well written novel of caring, mother-daughter bonds, cancer, and life in Brazil as well as being an un-documented immigrant in CA. Trying to make a new start from a rough beginning in life. Considering the heavy issues, this book flowed easily and was enjoyable. RIP Samuel Park, thank you for this novel. Thank you NetGalley for the e-copy for my review. All opinion are my own.

This story revolves around Mara at 3 points in her life. When we hear about her she's 8, living with her mother in the violent surroundings of Brazil in the 1970s, then 16 caring for her mother who's got heart disease. At age 26, she's living in LA caring for a woman dying of stomach cancer. AS she cares for the woman, Mara reflects on her past in Brazil and the emotional circumstances that led to her coming to the US. This is a story filled with emotions but I never felt emotionally connected to it nor did it capture my attention like I hoped. I found myself skimming quite a bit of it and while i thought many parts were well written, in the end I just didn't find it quite compelling or engaging enough

The story open with Mara working as a caregiver to a woman with stomach cancer. The novel than travel back in time, to Rio De Janiero in the 1980's, a very fraught political time in that country. Mara's mother will do anything to take care of her daughter, and this leads her into a dangerous situation, one with huge implications.

A touching mother, daughter tale, and one that shows how the political can affect our lives, and not always for the better. Brazil is a country I have read very little about, and this novel does a good job of showing the different faces this country presents. Mardi Gras with all the glam and glitter, beaches that look beautiful unless you look too closely. The struggles under the rule of a dictatorship, the brutality of a police chief who uses torture to elicit information about the resistance. A story written with a great deal of compassion, with a few twists I didn't see coming.

It seems way to often that I pick up a book about another country and find traces of my countrys involvement in a way detrimental to that country. Very awakening politically. Marax journey is an interesting one, how she comes to the United States and her hopes for the future. The authors own life takes a devastating turn, one mimiced in condition of one of these characters. The note at book end explains.

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 forty-one, Simon and Schuster, and NetGalley for providing this book to me for an honest review.

At its heart, this is a story about a mother and daughter. Daughter Mara is the narrator, bringing us to different points of her life -- when she was eight, 16, and 26. Park's words make the mood and place feel almost tangible.

I'm left with a few questions (which are spoiler-protected in my Goodreads review) but enjoyed the book.

It's heartbreaking that the (young) author died of stomach cancer after he finished this book. His talent is a loss for us all.

Thank you to Simon Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thought provoking read. I have never really thought about how immigrants view the lives we lead and what we take for granted every day. I found myself thinking about Mara’s reactions to life frequently throughout the days while I was reading this, and have continued to look at life through a somewhat different lens. She and her mom, Ana, struggled to find food and comfort in their native Copacabana. The passages dealing with the student revolutionaries and Chief Lima brought tears to my eyes. What a travesty - in so many ways! Mara’s interlude with Chief Lima’s son turned out differently than I expected as I thought he may become the love of her life.
Mara’s relationship with Kathryn provided another facet of Mara’s strength and resilience. Again I was thinking that Kathryn’s ex would play a significant role in her future - it did, but not the way I predicted. Guess I just wanted her to live an easier life with someone who would love her! Park’s descriptions of the progression of Kathryn’s stomach cancer was so powerful, as was the explanation of his connection to cancer.
A very thought provoking book on several levels. Many thanks to Samuel Parks, Simon Schuster, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this compelling read.

Mara and her mother Ana are very close and take care of one another. Ana, desperate for money to support Mara, takes an actress job that will lead down the wrong path. A path filled with the potential for murder, torture, heartbreak and death.

A beautifully written family saga about the resilience of the mother and daughter relationship; the upheaval of tragic life events; and how change in perspective and locale can alter life after unsavory things unfold.

I received an advanced review copy (ARC) of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

From the Publisher/NetGalley.com
Mara Alencar’s mother Ana is her moon, her sun, her stars. Ana, a struggling voice-over actress, is an admirably brave and recklessly impulsive woman who does everything in her power to care for her little girl. With no other family or friends her own age, Ana eclipses Mara’s entire world. They take turns caring for each other—in ways big and small.

Their arrangement begins to unravel when Ana becomes involved with a civilian rebel group attempting to undermine the city's torturous Police Chief, who rules over 1980s Rio de Janeiro with terrifying brutality. Ana makes decisions that indelibly change their shared life. When Mara is forced to escape, she immigrates to California as an undocumented immigrant and finds employment as a caregiver to a young woman dying of stomach cancer. It’s here that she begins to grapple with her turbulent past and starts to uncover vital truths—about her mother, herself, and what it means to truly take care of someone.

Told with vivid imagery and subtle poignancy, The Caregiver is a moving and profound story that asks us to investigate who we are—as children and parents, immigrants and citizens, and ultimately, humans looking for vital connectivity.

The Caregiver is one of the year’s best surprises. I read this book free and early, thanks to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster. Our protagonist is Mara Alencar, and our setting is split between present day Los Angeles, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the 1980s. I am drawn to the story initially because of the setting, which I don’t see often; but it is Mara that keeps me turning the pages. Those that treasure excellent, character-based literary fiction should get this book and read it.

Mara is just a kid, and all she really wants is food, shelter, and the comfort and companionship of her mother, Ana. Ana is a young single mother that works as a voice-over actress, repeating the lines of English-language programs in Portuguese. The pay is low, and Ana’s self-discipline is negligible. Life is a constant struggle.

One evening Ana is visited by a group of students that claim they plan to rob a bank in order to fund a revolution. Ana’s job is to distract Chief Lima so that a comrade can be liberated from prison. The comrade will play an important part in the revolution; as for Ana, she will be paid handsomely, and then she will be free to go if she likes. Mara doesn’t like these rough people and their threatening demeanor, but Ana hears the amount they will pay, and once she receives an advance, she’s in.

Everything is seen through Mara’s eyes, both in childhood as these events unfold, and later, looking back during her years working as a caregiver to a manipulative older woman that shares some of Ana’s characteristics. As a child, Mara is often afraid or confused, or both. Her mother reminds her often that she is all that matters, and that the two of them will always be together; in the next moment, she will do something so blindingly selfish, so completely inappropriate that I want to yank the woman into the kitchen and remind her that she has a child and responsibilities. She will tell Mara, not for the first time, that she could never stand to lie to her because they are so close, and she loves her so much; but we turn the page and sure enough, she lies to her child, or she is gone for days on end with no warning or explanation. There are occasions when she seems to lie unnecessarily, and I want to throw my tablet at the wall, I am so frustrated.

The ending is a complete surprise, and it makes perfect sense within the chaotic context of the time and place.

The most admirable aspect of this story is the consistency of the narrator. A writer that can tell a story from a child’s point of view without mixing up the developmental level that affects a child’s perceptions, vocabulary level, and capacity to analyze what she sees is hard to find. A male writer that can do this, and that can also consistently write a woman’s story in the first person without giving himself away is a unicorn. Samuel Park convinces me that I am listening to a woman tell her story, and repeatedly I am pulled under, only to be reminded when I go to make notes at the end of my writing session that this is a male novelist. This doesn’t happen. I am gob-smacked at his level of perception and originality.

I never met Park, but I grieve for him anyway as a reader. Please come back, Mr. Park. One book is not enough; forty-one is too young.

Highly recommended.

Beautifully written, The Caregiver explores the care giving relationship between a mother and daughter during the 1980's Rio de Janeiro. Two decades later the daughter is living in California working as a caregiver for a woman suffering from cancer. The fact that Samuel Park also died of stomach cancer made this more poignant. Mr. Park does a wonderful job of writing this in a female voice. Sadly, this will be his only book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy for an honest review. This book was released on Tuesday September 25th.

My Thoughts: In The Caregiver we meet Mara at three critical points in her life. At 8 she’s living under the spell of her impetuous mother as they try to survive the violence and corruption that marked Brazil in the late 1970’s. At 16, Mara tries to both protect and care for her mother who suffers from heart disease and a past that haunts her. When the reader first meets Mara, she’s 26, living in Los Angeles, and caregiver to a woman dying of stomach cancer. As Mara cares for this woman her thoughts are drawn to Brazil, the life she led with her mother, and most of all the heartbreak that brought Mara to the United States. I found each part of Mara’s story mildly interesting, but not compelling. I appreciated learning more about life in Brazil in the 70’s and 80’s, and enjoyed Mara’s beliefs in the goodness of Americans, but even skimming I was able to predict where most of this story was going.

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Simon & Schuster, in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!

I was immediately drawn in to Ana and Maya’s world, living on the edge of poverty in Rio de Janeiro. Told from the perspective of the daughter, at different times and places in her life, the story deals with how we care for others, as mothers, daughters, lovers and friends. Park acknowledges the complications of all of those relationships, and weaves a bright thread through their commonalities. This is a lovely book, and tragically, the last written by Park.

In an epilogue, Park talks about the cancer that took his life. I hope that writing this book gave him some peace.

In the 1990s, Mara Alcenar is living in California and working as a caregiver for a woman who suffers from cancer. She has been in the US for many years, illegally like so many others and always struggling to survive and hoping not to be caught. Yet, going back to Brazil is not an option; it is just her thoughts that frequently return to her native country. She remembers the time when she was six and living with her mother Ana who worked in the film industry and dubbed foreign productions. She was also a great actor which lead her to a fatal decision: being offered a “role” by leftist rebels, Ana Alcenar couldn’t refuse. She needed the money for herself and Mara. But then, something went completely wrong at the Police Chief’s office. Years later, Mara is a teenager and gets the chance to revenge her mother – but is the episode as she remembers is actually the truth?

Samuel Park’s novel “The caregiver” focuses on two completely different aspects: on the one hand, he addresses political questions such as the military rulers of South America in the 20th century and the precarious situation of immigrants from these countries in the US. On the other hand, he has a very personal topic that the novel makes you think about: what do loving and caring mean and how far would you go for the ones you love?

For me, the parts of the novel that are set in Rio de Janeiro were the most impressive. The author really gives you a good idea of how life was like under those political circumstances and how important your personal bonds were to survive. The neighbour becomes crucial for survival, you find yourself quickly caught between the lines and even if you want to keep away from politics, this isn’t always possible. And there is not just black and white, but many shades of grey.

The question of what loving somebody means is also crucial in the novel. Not the love between lovers, but much more the compassion you feel towards family members and those close to you, how much you are willing to endure and even more importantly: how much you are willing to forgive and to forget.

A novel full of food for thought and at the same time wonderfully written.