One woman’s travels with her mother into the land of Alzheimer’s—“a compelling work by a skilled writer” (Edmonton Journal).

“A fascinating story of two journeys. The first is Rosa’s, as Alzheimer’s disease leads this ageing woman deep into the netherworld of fear, confusion and loneliness. The second journey belongs to her daughter, Edmonton author Caterina Edwards, as she tries to cope with her mother’s decline by delving into Rosa’s mysterious and troubled past.” — National Post

When her mother, Rosa, begins to show signs of dementia, Caterina Edwards embarks on myriad journeys—geographical, intellectual, emotional—that become a search for the meaning of the past and of home. As Rosa loses her memory and her self, Edwards travels to Istria, now part of Croatia. There she discovers the suppressed history of Istria—the ethnic cleansing of her mother’s people—and uncovers Rosa’s personal losses.

Caught in that ever-growing “sandwich generation” of women caring for both their children and their ailing, aging parents, Edwards balances the demands of raising teenage daughters with the pressure of dealing with her deteriorating mother. And in leaving her place of comfort and travelling into the past and into the future, Edwards braves the darkness with and for her mother.

•Winner of the 2009 Wilfred Eggleston Award for Non-Fiction and nominated for the City of Edmonton Book Award, Finding Rosa is now available in paperback.