Gorgeous memoirs mother daughter Chicano life story a story of Alzheimer’s a story of coming out. many shared family memories. A beautifully written emotional tribute to cherries mother a book that will stay in your I’d.#netgalley#fsg

Cherrie Moraga is a poet and Chicana lesbian activist. Here she traces the life story of her mother, Elvira, from a 1920s girlhood spent working to support her family in the gambling mecca of Tijuana, and the floating casinos of Caliente, until her marriage to a white American; Cherrie's own childhood in the Pasadena of the 1950s and 60s, and her political and sexual awakening in the 70s; and finally, Elvira's long journey into dementia and death. While also touching upon Cherrie's later life, the fierce, unbending Elvira is the heart of this book, and it is through her mother's story that Cherrie attempts to reconnect with her Mexican and Indian roots. 'Native Country of the Heart' is beautifully written, and a reminder of the devastation wrought by colonisation and patriarchy.

This beautiful memoir of Cherríe Moraga tracks her relationship with her mother Elvira, not only through the changes that she undergoes in her heart but through the history of our collective Native soul.
This book has so much heart and pain. One of the best memoirs I have read in long while.

Moraga details her relationship with her mother, and the slow loss of her mother in this beautiful memoir. As a teacher focused on bringing my students stories they can connect to, I’m excited to adopt this book as one of texts for the Fall. Moraga weaves her personal story with history and mythology, actively cultivating a cultural memory that is integral to understanding her perspective as a feminist and educator.

Wow! This is a great memories. A mother daughter story that delves into a lot of her own coming of age and being queer and Chicana.

Cherrie Moraga's new memoir focuses on her losing her mother to Alzheimer's. Grief is the central theme of the book but also identity, familiar ties and legacy. There is a great deal of revisiting events and what they mean in the processing of loss especially the matriarch of the family. Cherrie's writing is phenomenal and is a great addition to the Mexican American memoir literary canon.

I had no idea who Cherrie Moraga was before I read this book. I was so glad that this was my introduction to her. Cherrie Moraga knows the heart of Chicana feminist women. In many ways, she reminded me of my favorite, Ana Castillo but of course, Cherrie has a voice of her own. I loved the exploration of this mother-daughter relationship. I loved being able to sympathize with their journey and feel a lot of their emotions resonate with my own experiences. Cherrie Moraga's insight into her life and more importantly, that of her mother, was filled with poetry, with deep exploration and empathy. I think this is definitely a must read, especially for me, as it is only now that I am exploring my Chicana heritage. I am so glad to have read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and FSG for gifting me this free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely gorgeous memoir. Spanish phrases were beautifully woven into the narrative and i especially loved how the author sticks strictly to her POV in the moments of her life, allowing the narrative to unfold to the reader as it did for her without the benefit of hindsight or foreshadowing.

I will be including a review of this book during my month of memoir in July.

A memoir mostly pertaining to her mother, but Moraga interspersed some of her life in it as well. It was very interesting to read the span of her mother's life and snippets from her father's family. Most of the book is devoted to her mother's eventual decline and struggles with Alzheimer's and how it impacted the entire family. It's a touching telling of a woman whose life spanned many decades and who grapples with just the daily task of living,

This was an interesting memoir about growing up in a Mexican/American family in the US with a strong mother Elvira, also called Vera. Elvira tells of being hired out with her siblings by their father as a child to pick cotton in California in Imperial Valley. A mother-daughter story where the mother has quite a history as the backbone of the family for decades in both Mexico and America. It also tells of the author, Cherrie Moraga's, journey as a lesbian in that culture as she found her voice and began speaking out and getting involved in different issues. Then there are some problems many have as their parents' age but perhaps handled in her mother’s unusual fashion at first. I found it to be an involving enough read and learned enough on a number of topics to make it worthwhile, figuring that others would like it also. My thanks for the advance electronic copy that was provided by NetGalley, author Cherrie Moraga, and the publisher for my fair review.

RATING: 3.5 of 5.0 Stars