In the Author’s Notes of “My Mother’s Gift,” Steffanie Edward notes that this book was written due to her own caring of her mother with Alzheimer’s. The love that our main character, Erica, has for her mother, Ione, is evident - along with the fact that it’s a tangled love (as a number of family relationships are). I found the main story - coping with a parent with Alzheimer’s from care to tests to daily tasks - to be very real. I didn’t find the backstory necessarily as engaging, though others might find that it gives more color to the overall story. I did like Aunt Barbara - I think everyone knows an Aunt Barbara - and found her to be both a loving yet sometimes unintentional humorous character. Having dealt with a parent with dementia issues, this book at times felt very familiar … while I don’t ever wish anyone to have to go through dementia, this book reminded me that my parent was not alone - and I wasn’t alone regarding what I was experiencing and feeling.

Could you uproot your whole life for the person who raised you? Can a place you’ve never felt at home ever feel like where you belong? And – as you experience loss – is it ever possible to also find love and peace?
This book is brilliant, really well written, good story which kept me interested from the beginning. Great characters which are also believable. This book is so gripping that I couldnt have put it down even if I had wanted too, which coincidently I didnt want too. Grab a copy for yourself. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reading My Mother’s Gift is painful and sobering. Although the setting is gorgeous on St. Lucia, the novel is grapples with pain and heartache. A daughter must completely rearrange her life in order to care for her mother who has Alzheimer’s. The two are estranged, which makes it equally challenging for Erica to deal with her mother’s decline.
Although fiction, there is so much to learn and empathisize about this story. Alzheimer’s knows no boundaries and robs it’s victims of so much.
It’s a testament to the author, whose own mother suffers from this heinous disease, to reflect those challenges so gracefully and thoughtfully in her book.