Never To Forget

Family love restores what dementia erased: the adventures of a Costa Rican emigrant mother

★★★★★ Silver Medallist: BookFest Awards

◆ Women's Historical Fiction ◆ Literary-Adventure & Journey

★★★★★ Finalist: 2023 International Book Awards

◆ Inspirational Fiction ◆ Multicultural Fiction

"Bertha is a classic survivor. She may not find that perfect love, but she is unstoppable." ---Kirkus Review

"This expansive and elegiac novel focuses on the life of a woman who searches for true love... An enjoyable family tale with a tough and memorable hero." ---Kirkus Review

"An adventurous and inspiring story of a courageous woman who struggles against social injustice... A striking historical novel of women and the Costa Rican revolution." ---BookLife Reviews

"Set in Costa Rica and The United States, this poignant literary tale will leave readers thoroughly satisfied." ---The Prairie Book Review

" Alvarado deftly intermingles Bertelina and Bertha's stories while touching on complex topics of love, longing, marriage, individual angst, physical and psychological abuse, grief, redemption, human connection, and the power of love. A compelling, raw read." ---Book View Review

"A tender and poignant portrait of an adventuresome Costa Rican emigrant and her battle with dementia, in which the tales of her life's daring, love, and family are repeated to her as testament to her enduring matriarchal lionization." ---Books That Make You

An adventurous and inspiring story of a courageous woman who struggles against social injustice: as a saboteur during the Costa Rican revolution, and later, as wife to an abusive husband. To protect her children, she immigrates to the US.

Never To Forget is based on a true story of a woman's adventurous struggle to fulfill the promise of love, even from the margins of mid-20th century Costa Rican society and as an immigrant in the US.

Spurned at age five by her mother's admonition that girls can't be soldiers, Bertelina sets out in an adventurous struggle for personal fulfillment to eventually become embroiled in the 1948 Costa Rican revolutionary quest for social justice, and ultimately with women's struggle for self-determination. With the inner strength of a soldier, she grapples to balance the traditional feminine role with her eventual urgency to protect her children after a divorce from an abusive husband. In overcoming social and religious roadblocks, she immigrates to the United States.

After finally fulfilling her aspirations, everything about herself is threatened to be decimated by the devastation of Alzheimer's dementia.

Reader Reviews:

"What an adventure! This woman has guts! I was very gripped by her determination to be a part of the change in her world. She is at once brave, bull-headed, and extremely feminine"... by Kristie L.

"To see someone you love and... go through something that turns them into a shell of a human is really heartbreaking. You wrote these moments really skillfully"...by Monika M.

"... at first seems like a simple tale about a young Costa Rican girl... But as you work through the chapters, enraptured by the authentic and believable dialogue... , you begin to understand how personal, wonderful and adventurous this story really is."... by Dustin B.

"... this breath-taking, sweeping novel, written with intelligence and love, with real, three-dimensional characters and a gripping, believable storyline."... by Kevin G.