A Flower Traveled in My Blood: The Incredible True Story of the Grandmothers Who Fought to Find a Stolen Generation of Children

Journalist Gilliland’s enthralling debut recaps the decades-long battle by a group of Argentinian grandmothers, the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, to locate their grandchildren who were kidnapped by the junta in the 1970s. The “desaparecidos,” or “the disappeared,” were alleged “subversives”—mostly members of leftist groups—who were abducted, tortured, and killed by the military dictatorship’s forces. Horrifyingly, those who were pregnant were allowed to wait to give birth before their executions so that junta members could clandestinely adopt the babies. Gilliland centers the story of one Abuela, Rosa Tarlovsky de Roisinblit, and her tireless search for her grandchild. Through Rosa, Gilliland follows the Abuelas as they employ every method at their disposal to find their grandchildren, from protesting at the risk of death to recruiting an American geneticist to develop testing to prove grandparental lineage, a scientific breakthrough that made them “pioneers of genetic genealogy.” While the Abuelas succeeded in locating more than 130 grandchildren to great public fanfare, the book delves into how these discoveries led to further complications, including fierce custody battles and adult children’s struggles with the revelation their parents were actually their kidnappers. Noting that several potential grandchildren resisted genetic testing, Gilliland also poses larger questions about identity (“Is it the sole property of an individual—or does their family and their society also have a right to truth?”). Written with the nail-biting verve of a thriller, this spotlights relentless perseverance in the face of unthinkable brutality. (July)