The Dark Side of Memory by Books Forward

The Dark Side of Memory

“The Dark Side of Memory” by Tessa Bridal is a gripping and incisive narrative of the multi-generational effect of the extremist military dictatorships in Uruguay and Argentina, as told to the author by families of the disappeared. Through her retelling, Bridal elevates the stories of the overlooked, voiceless and forgotten humans behind political turmoil. As University of San Francisco Latin American Studies Program Director Roberto Gutiérrez Varea praises: “Bridal offers us a poignant, clear-eyed view of the conflict, to best measure the viciousness of the military’s actions, and the courageous resilience of survivors and relatives who never gave up on their abducted kin. In the age of Black Lives Matter and the brutal detention of children by US Immigration Enforcement at the border, The Dark Side of Memory is a most caring and powerful cautionary tale as to the enduring, generational nature of trauma when political violence is unleashed on those most vulnerable.”

Reviews

In a meticulous chronicle that innovatively blends fact and fiction, Bridal (River of Painted Birds) brings to light the tragic story of Uruguayan children who disappeared during the turbulent years of the country’s military dictatorship--and the search for justice in more recent years. Bridal, a celebrated fiction writer who was twenty years old when her family chose to immigrate to the United States, lays bare how, during the Cold War years, democracies in Latin America failed one after another and turned into dictatorships. When Argentina's democracy failed, too, many Uruguayans who had sought refuge there disappeared in the hands of paramilitary forces. Approximately twenty Uruguayan children are estimated among the uncertain number of these detenidos desaparecidos (the “detained disappeared”).

When democracy returned to Uruguay 1985, many with power wished to just leave the past behind, and the new government actively worked against any efforts to face the truth. Writing in “the hope that if people knew and understood what had happened and why, the mistakes of the past would not be repeated,” Bridal interweaves the personal with the geopolitical into a densely detailed narrative that centers around four different searches for disappeared children. She has created scenes, such as closed-door meetings among admirals and ambassadors, or a confrontation between a woman and the man responsible for her granddaughter’s abduction, through extensive interviews and research, connecting the tragedies in Uruguay with U.S. foreign policy. Though at times the narrative is convoluted, the stories she brings are searingly compelling and moving.

“They say that forgetting is the dark side of memory,” she writes, and though it might be easier to forget, Bridal argues that the price of doing so is much too high. Her recount viscerally explores the long-term repercussions of tyranny, violence and broken identities, and the grave questions it uncovers will leave readers with greuling food for thought.

Takeaway: A fascinating, ultimately hopeful account of the quest for justice for “disappeared” Uruguayan children.

Great for fans of: Marguerite Guzman Bouvard’s Revolutionizing Motherhood: The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Gabriel Gatti’s Surviving Forced Disappearance in Argentina and Uruguay.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B
Marketing copy: B+

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