Motherland: A Memoir - Paperback

by Paula Ram (Author), Julia Sanches (Translator), Jennifer Shyue (Translator)

From Venezuelan reporter Paula Ram comes a powerful memoir about one woman's complicated relationship with her family as her beloved homeland collapses into ruin.

In the span of a generation, oil-rich Venezuela spiraled into a dire state of economic collapse. Reporter Paula Ram experienced the crisis firsthand as her middle-class family saw their quality of life deteriorate.

Public services no longer functioned. Money lost its value. Her mother couldn't afford to buy food, which was increasingly scarce. The once-prosperous country fell into ruin. Like many others, Ram's family struggled to survive each day in their beloved city, Maracaibo--until, one by one, they each made the unbearable choice to leave the home they love.

In the end, it was Ram's mother, a widow, who stayed behind, loyal to the only home she'd ever known. In this heartbreaking mix of lived experience, family chronicle, and journalistic essay, Paula Ram explores the anguish of her own relationships set against the staggering collapse of a country.

Motherland is a uniquely human account about the ties that bind--and the fragile concept of home.