Never Stop Walking

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.

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!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

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.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

What a story

I’m so awestruck by the strength of Christina. A well told, deeply impactful story. May we all learn to see each other with humble and humane eyes. Thank you for sharing who you are, Christina.

Kind of repetitive.

Hard to believe that the author could remember all these details. Somewhat interesting story. It did give me an insight to what the homeless children go through.

Interesting story but the writing (or translation)

...doesn't even rise to the level of "adequate."

I don't like to read books in translation because you never know if the translation improved the writing or made it worse. The writing in Rickardsson's book is so very basic I'm not sure how it got published. There's lots of telling (and very little showing), not an unusual sentence in sight, no interesting metaphors, similes, description, etc. The audio narrator valiantly tried to enhance the story by infusing some emotion into it but alas...

I'm not sure why I kept listening other than the fact that I lived in São Paulo for six months while the author was a child on the streets there--and it was free with KU. So I listened to most of it with half an ear.

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.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Gripping and challenging

Memoir of a street child from Sao Paulo slums. Poverty, tragedy, joy, companionship, this story gives an honest glimpse at the realities faced by many young children. The utter obscenities visited upon marginalized humanity, heartless and cruel, as well as the love and joys of true friendship and love are narrated genuinely. It is horrid to think such things exist and to recognize the helplessness of such a position. We must find a way to make a difference! To remember the humanity and inherent dignity owed to every marginalized person, whether refugee, street person, mentally ill or addicted. Thank you for meeting the challenge of sharing your story, and presenting the challenge to remember we each have value.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

Reader Comments

This memoir is highly recommend to those that experienced extreme hardships in life and come out on top in the end.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

A story of many, this time from the favelas

The story is compelling. A journey from the slums of Sao Paulo to the rural life of Sweden and the childhood memories that simultaneously haunt her and currently impel her to act to help children at risk.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

Loved this book!

Made me laugh and cry. Gripping true life accounts of what she lived through and how she survived as a young child in Brazil mixed together with her modern day life and what she found when she returned to search for her mother and the truth.

The narrator was a little bit on the robotic side at times but otherwise I loved it.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

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.