The Angolan Girl

By: Telma Rocha

Narrated by: Sherry L. Neiman

It’s 1975 in Lobito, Angola, where Rosa, Leo, and their children are trapped in their home as militants battle for power. After 13 years Portugal lost the War of Independence. Now civil war rages on. The Carvalho family has given up hope for peace in their beloved homeland.

A plan to build a life in Canada sets into motion. But their journey won’t be easy. Rosa takes comfort in the knowledge that her life has never been easy. Memories of her childhood spent bouncing between wealth and servitude, longing for a mother she couldn’t know, and a naïve adolescence cut short fuel Rosa’s courage to make good on a promise she made long ago.

After five straight days the gunshots have quieted; the time to flee is now. Which would you choose if memories and a change of clothes were all you could take?

©2019 Telma Rocha (P)2023 Telma Rocha

Tenacious woman

You’ll learn both the history of colonized Angola and the history of several generations of this family. Told through the voice of the author’s grandmother, this book makes one wish to have such a fierce female matriarch in our own personal lineage. This book kept the surprises coming nonstop. The author’s grandmother (Rosa) endured, endured, and endured. May all the Rosas in history have their refugee story honored with such a lovely book like this. Tenacious women make this world a better place. Rosa proves this. Obrigada, Rosa!