A Flower Traveled in My Blood - by Haley Cohen Gilliland (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The epic, true story of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, grandmothers who fought to find their stolen grandchildren during Argentina's brutal dictatorship"--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - "[An] astonishing story...Powerful...Harrowing...Absorbing and lucid...You would have to harden your heart to be unmoved by the Abuelas' quest." --Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times

"Inspiring...A triumphant saga of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the face of pure malevolence." --Hampton Sides - "Enthralling...Written with the nail-biting verve of a thriller." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) - "Extraordinary...A harrowing and timely reminder of what happens when democracy succumbs to despotism." --Adam Higginbotham - "[A] cinematically detailed, deeply researched narrative." --The Washington Post - "Piercing, emotional...Will resonate for generations." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

A remarkable new talent in narrative nonfiction delivers the epic true story of a group of courageous grandmothers who fought to find their grandchildren who were stolen.

In the early hours of March 24, 1976, the streets of Buenos Aires rumble with tanks as soldiers seize the presidential palace and topple Argentina's leader. The country is now under the control of a military junta, with army chief Jorge Rafael Videla at the helm. With quiet support from the United States and tacit approval from much of Argentina's people, who are tired of constant bombings and gunfights, the junta swiftly launches the National Reorganization Process or El Proceso--a bland name masking their ruthless campaign to crush the political left and instill the country with "Western, Christian" values. The junta holds power until 1983 and decimates a generation.

One of the military's most diabolical acts is kidnapping hundreds of pregnant women. After giving birth in captivity, the women are "disappeared," and their babies secretly given to other families--many of them headed by police or military officers. For mothers of pregnant daughters and daughters-in-law, the source of their grief is twofold--the disappearances of their children, and the theft of their grandchildren. A group of fierce grandmothers forms the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, dedicated to finding the stolen infants and seeking justice from a nation that betrayed them. At a time when speaking out could mean death, the Abuelas confront military officers and launch protests to reach international diplomats and journalists. They become detectives, adopting disguises to observe suspected grandchildren, and even work alongside a renowned American scientist to pioneer groundbreaking genetic tests.

A Flower Traveled in My Blood is the rarest of nonfiction that reads like a novel and puts your heart in your throat. It is the product of years of extensive archival research and meticulous, original reporting. It marks the arrival of a blazing new talent in narrative journalism. In these pages, a regime tries to terrorize a country, but love prevails. The grandmothers' stunning stories reveal new truths about memory, identity, and family.

Review Quotes

"Gilliland's first book (of many, we should hope) tells the remarkable story of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo. . . . Grandmothers came together across social divides to fight for their families, sometimes discovering reserves of strength they didn't know they had. The Abuelas remain united in their struggle to this day and Gillibrand does a masterful job conveying their extraordinary story." --NPR

"An enthralling history of a human rights movement whose mission remains as urgent as ever . . . A Flower Traveled in My Blood reads like a Cold War thriller. . . . Gilliland interrogates what it means to pursue--and ultimately find--justice for the victims of these crimes against humanity." --The Nation

"Immaculately researched and endlessly readable, this unforgettable debut is a testament to ruthless and unchecked far-right military control and the power of collective strength, courage, and protest to overcome it." --Ms. Magazine

"There is so much to read but don't miss this supremely well-researched and powerful new book. Very grateful to have finally read it." --David Grann, New York Times bestselling author of The Wager

"In this beautifully crafted narrative history, Haley Cohen Gilliland brings to light the stories of Argentinian grandmothers who used every method available, including nascent DNA testing, to locate the children and grandchildren 'disappeared' or even murdered during the dictatorship of the country's military junta. The range of emotions is breathtaking; we learn of the horrors of disappearing, the grunt work of activism, the joys of reunion, and the pain and confusion felt by the disappeared as they try to reconcile their old and new identities. A Flower Traveled in My Blood is the riveting story of a dark history that we must not forget." --Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University

"Haley Cohen Gilliland's monumental account of the stolen children of Argentina is a heartbreaking and humane story of devotion and moral courage, personal and cultural trauma, unfathomable political corruption and accountability, and the complexities of personal identity in the genetic age. The Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo now have a history fitting of their astonishing rigor and inspiring grace." --Robert Kolker, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Valley Road

"History is filled with tragedy and heartbreak, redemption and hope, but nothing compares to the story of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo. These women lost their children to a brutal dictatorship, and in the same cruel act, their grandchildren were taken. Their relentless search for them led the Abuelas to defy murderous squads, a complicit society, and political and judicial barriers. Yet, they kept going, creating profound changes in international law and science along the way, while providing new answers to essential moral questions about memory and identity. Haley Cohen Gilliland found the perfect thread to tell this complex, extraordinary story, and she's done so masterfully and with great heart. And every bit of it is true." --Graciela Mochkofsky, author of The Prophet of the Andes

"Deeply reported . . . Gilliland focuses on the ordeal of a single shattered family, widens her lens to include other cases, and embeds her tale in a crisp account of recent Argentinian history. . . . Argentina's lessons for the current moment are multiple: When tyrants threaten, more people and institutions may cower than resist; the loss of checks on state violence can be catastrophic; and no one knows who the next victim will be." --The Atlantic

"[An] astonishing story . . . Powerful . . . Harrowing . . . Absorbing and lucid . . . You would have to harden your heart to be unmoved by the Abuelas' quest." --Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times

"Haley Cohen Gilliland has written an extraordinary book. A compelling family saga and a forensic detective story set against a sweeping narrative of a hundred years of Argentine history, A Flower Traveled in My Blood is also a harrowing and timely reminder of what happens when democracy succumbs to despotism." --Adam Higginbotham, New York Times bestselling author of Challenger and Midnight in Chernobyl

"A Flower Traveled in My Blood is a triumphant saga of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the face of pure malevolence. Haley Cohen Gilliland's inspiring, engrossing tale reminds us that successful resistance to authoritarian oppression often comes from society's seemingly least powerful--in this case, from a network of heartsick grandmothers armed with the superpowers of patience, persistence, and bottomless reservoirs of love." --Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author of The Wide Wide Sea

"Journalist Haley Cohen Gilliland immortalizes the heroic resistance of the women who called themselves the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo. . . . A Flower Traveled in My Blood meticulously chronicles a chapter of humankind at its worst, giving these times their gruesome due, lest they be forgotten and repeated." --BookPage (starred review)

"A Flower Traveled in My Blood is an unflinching playbook of what happens when a government's tyrannical impulses are fed as well as a heartbreaking, immersive account of what it means to stand up against injustice and demand that those who allow it move out of the way." --Booklist (starred review)

"[Gilliland] conveys the complicated, heart-wrenching fullness of her characters' individual stories and shades their backdrop with compulsively readable history of geopolitical tension and the emerging DNA science that fueled the Abuelas' fight. Gilliland's work, exhaustively and compassionately researched, offers a crucial counterbalance to the dark legacy of Argentina's desaparecidos, injecting the light of a model resistance movement that lay the groundwork for future international human rights investigations. Her humility and respect for the fraught journeys her subjects made toward each other and for the vital questions their journeys raised--about power, identity, family, and collective memory and healing--ensure the text will resonate for generations the world over. A piercing, emotional tribute to the value of persistent resistance." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Enthralling . . . Written with the nail-biting verve of a thriller, this spotlights relentless perseverance in the face of unthinkable brutality." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

About the Author

Haley Cohen Gilliland is a journalist and the director of the Yale Journalism Initiative. She previously worked at The Economist for seven years, four of which were spent in Buenos Aires as the paper's Argentina correspondent. Following her time at The Economist, she has focused on narrative nonfiction--bringing history and current events to life through fact-based storytelling. She has published long-form feature articles in The New York Times, National Geographic, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Vanity Fair, among other publications. She lives in New York state with her husband, two children, and dogs. A Flower Traveled in My Blood is her first book.