Carmen Aguirre

(8.5)This is the second memoir i have read by this author. Whereas the first book, [Mexican Hooker] focuses on her life as a refugee in Canada, this book looks at the periods in her life back in South America. She flees Chile and the Pinochet regime with her parents and younger sister when she is 6 years old. Her parents marriage breaks down and as an 11 year old, she returns to South America with her revolutionary mother and new partner.
This is a fascinating account of life lived under assumed names and constantly on the move to avoid detection and often being left to their own devices while their mother and step-father are out fighting for freedom.
The author is now a respected actor and playwright in Canada.… (más)

I listened to this writer speak at the Auckland Writers Festival in 2016 and finally have picked up one of her books I bought. Once again, this writer's life experiences reminds one of what sheltered lives most of us lead. The latter section of the book focuses on her rape experience at the hands of Canada's serial notorious 'Paperbag Rapist' and the authors eventual acceptance of what had happened to her and its impact on her life and relationships.
There is also much insight into the turbulent political times of Chile during the latter part of the twentieth century.… (más)

3.5 stars

Carmen was raised in Canada, where her parents had arrived as refugees after being exiled from their native Chile because they were revolutionaries. When Carmen was 11, she, her mother, her stepfather, and her sister all moved to Bolivia (beside Chile) so they could help with the revolution from there. The book follows Carmen’s life as she grows up to help in the revolution herself, until it comes to an end in 1989 when she’s in her early 20s.

It was shorter and there wasn’t as much politics in it as I was expecting (which, for me, was a good thing!). There was still some; of course, more when Carmen was older. I was surprised that her parents brought Carmen and her sister with them, as it was very dangerous, though Carmen seemed quite happy to be there, so close to her grandparents, as she and her sister were able to travel across the border to visit (though her mother and stepfather were unable to). Certainly, when Carmen was younger, there is not as much mention of the danger, as Carmen herself was not thinking about it at the time.… (más)

I think my favorite thing about this book is that Aguirre doesn't pull any punches. She describes the different fears that were a part of her life, the way people looked after beatings, and her belief in what she was doing. She relates what happened around her and what she did and that she wasn't just sitting on the sidelines and hoping that things would get better.

I appreciate that she just gives her opinion without trying to convince the reader of right and wrong. It isn't a plea or an argument and she doesn't justify what she was doing to the reader. She just tells you what it was and what she did on account of it. She also doesn't pretend to be perfect or brave all the time. Showing how hard something, especially something like revolution, is hard and it does everyone a disservice when we pretend it can happen in a day or night.

I listened to audiobook, and I loved both her writing style and that she narrated the book for herself. I loved the inclusion of the epilogue and that she relates what was happening in those countries during the publishing back to the resistance because progress doesn't happen in a vacuum. It was an interesting look into what was happening in South America in the late part of the twentieth century. It's definitely not one that we get in the US often.

I had originally found this book as part of the Diverse Books Tag that I did about memoirs (click here for mine). It was my book for "set in South America. Coincidentally, it's also my first review during Hispanic Heritage month!… (más)