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    The Caregiver
    The Caregiver
    The Caregiver
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Caregiver

    Written by Samuel Park

    Narrated by Cassandra Campbell

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    A FALL 2018 HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SELECTION BY * PEOPLE * O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY * VULTURE * CHICAGO TRIBUNE * THE MILLIONS * FAST COMPANY * SEATTLE TIMES * ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH * BOOKPAGE * BOOKRIOT * CONDE NAST TRAVELER *

    "[A] luminous mother-daughter saga."—ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

    "Lovely and heartbreaking."—PEOPLE

    "A beautiful testament to [Park’s] extraordinary talents as a storyteller…A ferocious page-turner."—KIRKUS REVIEWS (STARRED REVIEW)

    From the critically acclaimed author of This Burns My Heart comes a gorgeous, emotionally wise tale about a daughter who unearths the hidden life of her enigmatic mother.

    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 emigrates 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
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateSep 25, 2018
    ISBN9781508268024
    Author

    Samuel Park

    Samuel Park was an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Columbia College Chicago. He graduated from Stanford University and the University of Southern California, where he earned his doctorate. He is the author of the novella Shakespeare’s Sonnets and the writer-director of a short film of the same name, which was an official selection of numerous domestic and international film festivals. He is also the author of the novels This Burns My Heart and The Caregiver. His nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times. Born in Brazil and raised in Los Angeles, he split his time between Chicago and Los Angeles. In April 2017, Samuel Park died of stomach cancer at the age of 41 shortly after finishing The Caregiver. 

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    Reviews for The Caregiver

    4/5

    88 ratings10 reviews

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    • 5/5
      One of the best books I've read not knowing what it is about. Aside from the title which I think won't help sell this novel, there's nothing much more to be said other than this is a must read.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      A great story set in both Brazil and California as a young woman attempts to cope with feelings of loss and betrayal. So many conflicting emotions as she moves forward after the death of her mother. Wonderful use of language, interesting characters and scenery.
    • 2/5
      No real climax or resolution... just words words words
    • 3/5
      The reader did not speak loudly or clearly enough for me to consistently understand the voice of Mara. The other voices were quite clear. I'm not sure if better understanding of Mara's voice would have made much difference. I think I missed the point as to what this novel is about.
    • 2/5
      The ending was very cryptic story was overall weak.
    • 2/5
      Not a riveting story. It was hard to care for the characters. Almost didn’t finish the book.
    • 5/5
      Beautiful. Exquisite writing! Couldn't put it down!!! Breathtaking prose. Mesmerizing.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      Ana and her little girl, Mara, take care of each other in their home in Copacabana, Brazil. Ana works as a voice-over actress but her job brings in little money. In desperation, she agrees to take a job posing as a citizen with information about student guerillas in an attempt to lure the violent Police Chief Lima from his post. Ana then makes a decision that tears their lives apart.Years later when Mara comes to America undocumented, she takes a job as a caregiver to a woman, Kathryn, who is suffering from stomach cancer. Caring for Kathryn brings up memories of Mara’s mother and Mara struggles to come to terms with her past. 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. The author, Samuel Parks, passed away from stomach cancer shortly after writing this book. At the end of the book, his essay that was published in the New York Times is shared. It’s called “I Had a 9 Percent Chance, Plus Hope” and it’s a must read for all. After reading this book, I’m even more anxious to read “This Burns My Heart”.Recommended.This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.
    • 3/5
      Samuel Park died of stomach cancer after finishing this book (and battling the cancer twice). And yes, one of the characters in this book has stomach cancer, and is young for it, just as he was. She is not the main character, however. Her caregiver is. Mara is from Brazil (as Park was, originally, though he grew up in LA). Mara left Brazil sometime after her mother's death, and caring for Kathryn has caused her to think more about her mother's life. She raised Mara alone in Copacabana, when Brazil was undergoing high inflation and political turmoil. She got involved with the rebels while trying earn extra money to pay the rent. She was not with the rebels or against the rebels, she was for herself and her daughter. After she became ill when Mara was a teen, Mara tried to learn more. Is what her mother told her the truth? As a caregiving adult, Mara can better understand the choices her mother made (and the choices she even had) when she had an 8-year-old to care for.———How I wish Park were able to discuss this book (in interview or in print). I have so many questions. Did he get to finish it to his own satisfaction? How much of Mara's childhood experiences in Brazil were his own or his family's? Did he himself have a caregiver other than close family? ———There is an essay included in the back, by Park for the NY Times. It is heartbreaking.