Never Stop Walking

A Memoir of Finding Home Across the World

By: Christina Rickardsson, Tara F. Chace - translator

Narrated by: Siiri Scott

Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's Summary

An extraordinary memoir of one woman’s fight to find her true self between the life into which she was born and the one she was given.

Christiana Mara Coelho was born into extreme poverty in Brazil. After spending the first seven years of her life with her loving mother in the forest caves outside São Paulo and then on the city streets, where they begged for food, she and her younger brother were suddenly put up for adoption. When one door closed on the only life Christiana had ever known and on the woman who protected her with all her heart, a new one opened.

As Christina Rickardsson, she’s raised by caring adoptive parents in Sweden, far from the despairing favelas of her childhood. Accomplished and outwardly “normal,” Christina is also filled with rage over what she’s lost and having to adapt to a new reality while struggling with the traumas of her youth. When her world falls apart again as an adult, Christina returns to Brazil to finally confront her past and unlock the truth of what really happened to Christiana Mara Coelho.

A memoir of two selves, Never Stop Walking is the moving story of the profound love between families and one woman’s journey from grief and loss to survival and self-discovery.

©2016 Christina Rickardsson. Translation © 2018 by Tara F. Chace. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Needs an editor!

The story is interesting and the performance is good but it covers the same ground many times. The author needs to write the same thing repeatedly to heal but the reader does not.

an inspiration to think deeper about life

as I listened to this book I couldn't stop but thinking how everyone face their struggles and trauma differently and how strength is born through the hardship one faces. Christina had done a wonderful job in sharing not just hardships she overcome but tried to voice for those who go through similar struggles in life. the narration was really moving and caught hold of one's attention that one couldn't help but listen whole day long with unwavering attention. jotting down these lines earnestly and with gratitude towards what the book and it's author shared generously.

how kids think, and how we must talk to them

Sensitive and companionate story of a young girl growing up in Brazil's slams and then adoption. This is the deepest insight and most believable psychological explaination how kids think and feel I have ever read. If not the moralizing epilogue I would rate the Overall as 5*. The whole book was dedicated to the reader to come to the conclusion on our own, and it was not teally necessary to sell it out... O erall: wonderful work. I thank the Author.

A Vent

The writing was poor(although it may have not translated well). So...it was a difficult read which took me days...which is abnormal for me. I persevered because I do know children who have been adopted from orphanages in foreign countries and have been diagnosed with RAD. I thought that Christina's perspective might help me to understand why some of these children rip off doors and seem to want to destroy the new and loving home they have been given. At least, the book, ponderous as it was, has helped me to do that in some small measure. A couple of sentences and her perspective at 32 instead of 8 helped me to have hope for those kids I have met in various places. How do you get over seeing your own father killed?? How do you get over the feeling that you have been ripped from the arms of someone who loves you!

I am sad that Christina still seems to have very little tangible source of strength since she has relegated God to the "fairy tale" realm. It is also sad that she apparently didn't have an editor or perhaps the book may have been more tolerable.

On.a positive note, I would like to introduce this book to some of the people at the church where I go who seem to think that people who are homeless have brought it on themselves...some of us even drive a Lexus!

Not my favorite

The remarks and attitude about God, church, and Jesus is off putting for me. Story was very touching and sad but for the unnecessary remarks about Christianity.

Wasn’t happy with the narrator

This book definitely had potential but narrator styles was not my style. A little too effusive for me

Difficult to listen to because it’s so real… but you must!

I found this book difficult to listen to because he author shared so many realistic moments in her early life that were filled with fear and deprivation and harm. But also she shared the wonderful love between she and her mother. This book needs listening to. We need to see this side of life in this level of reality and this depth of detail. We need to know what the most basic definition of privilege is, so we can share our privilege and acknowledge it.

Slow and redundant

I gave this all the way until I only had 3 hrs left. Not only did I find the narrator to be overly dramatic and s-l-o-w, but the story was incredibly simplistic and took forever to get anywhere. There is a lot of pontificating. Blah! Not for me.

try listening at a higher speed

sad story of a young girls life before and after adoption and the corrupt system involved.

Powerful and transparent!!!

I love this book and how Christiana (Christina) is very transparent, genuine, and sincere in every word she wrote. This was a very easy listen and read. I found myself inspired to share my testimony of growing up in similarities and at times felt that Christiana was one of my friends that I made in childhood that impacted my life for greater! Thank you Christiana your powerful testimony of your journey to uncover and discover who you are as a human being!!! This book is a blessing and help brings perspective!!

Incredible

After seeing Christina live in the theatre, I knew I had to read this book.

Family and Love

Probably the best audible book I've managed to finish , makes you aware of the privileged upbringing in the western world, have the tissues ready !!!

Terrible narrator

The narrator spoiled the book for me. She reads the story as if she was reading poetry full of pathos. I found it annoying and disangaging. The story is good although I did not appreciated the constant jumps from the past to the presence and back to the past. I feel that the story is much more interesting when told chronologically.