Carlos Alvarado – författare

Family love restores what dementia erased: the adventures of a Costa Rican emigrant mother

★★★★★ Silver Medallist: BookFest Awards

◆ Women''s Historical Fiction ◆ Literary-Adventure & Journey

★★★★★ Finalist: 2023 International Book Awards

◆ Inspirational Fiction ◆ Multicultural Fiction

"Bertha is a classic survivor. She may not find that perfect love, but she is unstoppable." ---Kirkus Review

"This expansive and elegiac novel focuses on the life of a woman who searches for true love... An enjoyable family tale with a tough and memorable hero." ---Kirkus Review

"An adventurous and inspiring story of a courageous woman who struggles against social injustice... A striking historical novel of women and the Costa Rican revolution." ---BookLife Reviews

"Set in Costa Rica and The United States, this poignant literary tale will leave readers thoroughly satisfied." ---The Prairie Book Review

" Alvarado deftly intermingles Bertelina and Bertha''s stories while touching on complex topics of love, longing, marriage, individual angst, physical and psychological abuse, grief, redemption, human connection, and the power of love. A compelling, raw read." ---Book View Review

"A tender and poignant portrait of an adventuresome Costa Rican emigrant and her battle with dementia, in which the tales of her life''s daring, love, and family are repeated to her as testament to her enduring matriarchal lionization." ---Books That Make You

An adventurous and inspiring story of a courageous woman who struggles against social injustice: as a saboteur during the Costa Rican revolution, and later, as wife to an abusive husband. To protect her children, she immigrates to the US.

Never To Forget is based on a true story of a woman''s adventurous struggle to fulfill the promise of love, even from the margins of mid-20th century Costa Rican society and as an immigrant in the US.

Spurned at age five by her mother''s admonition that girls can''t be soldiers, Bertelina sets out in an adventurous struggle for personal fulfillment to eventually become embroiled in the 1948 Costa Rican revolutionary quest for social justice, and ultimately with women''s struggle for self-determination. With the inner strength of a soldier, she grapples to balance the traditional feminine role with her eventual urgency to protect her children after a divorce from an abusive husband. In overcoming social and religious roadblocks, she immigrates to the United States.

After finally fulfilling her aspirations, everything about herself is threatened to be decimated by the devastation of Alzheimer''s dementia.

Reader Reviews:

"What an adventure! This woman has guts! I was very gripped by her determination to be a part of the change in her world. She is at once brave, bull-headed, and extremely feminine"... by Kristie L.

"To see someone you love and... go through something that turns them into a shell of a human is really heartbreaking. You wrote these moments really skillfully"...by Monika M.

"... at first seems like a simple tale about a young Costa Rican girl... But as you work through the chapters, enraptured by the authentic and believable dialogue... , you begin to understand how personal, wonderful and adventurous this story really is."... by Dustin B.

"... this breath-taking, sweeping novel, written with intelligence and love, with real, three-dimensional characters and a gripping, believable storyline."... by Kevin G.

Mexico has played a major role in shaping the growth and development of international arbitration practice, in great part due to its global prominence at the competitive forefront of manufacturing, agriculture, telecommunications, finance, real estate, tourism, trade, and commercial transactions, all while crafting its own policies to achieve the energy transition. In addition, its close ties with the United States and Canada, as well as its important business relations with the rest of the world, have made Mexico a leading subject of investment treaty practice. This book, the most comprehensive English book on the subject, offers a thorough practical analysis of arbitration in Mexico in a variety of specific fields as well in-depth description and analysis of the role and attitude of national courts towards arbitration and of national, regional, and international arbitration institutions.

Written by the leading lights of Mexican arbitration practice and scholarship, the contributions clearly and succinctly disentangle complex but common issues arising in commercial and investment treaty disputes. Features of Mexico’s dynamic body of arbitration law and practice covered include the following:

legal framework in which arbitration in Mexico operates;

characterization of international arbitration principles by Mexican courts;

cases which require decisions by a national court or authority;

public policy and arbitrability;

authority and duties of the arbitral tribunal;

document production in the Mexican arbitration practice;

judicial intervention in support of international arbitration;

state entities as actors in arbitration disputes;

hydrocarbons, power and M&A disputes;

use of technology in arbitral proceedings; and

quantum and damages.

This first comprehensive book in English on arbitration law and practice in Mexico provides an in-depth understanding of all of Mexico’s arbitration law and practice nationwide, practical guidance on identifying and assessing the different theoretical and practical legal avenues available, and relevant usages of ADR mechanisms in commercial disputes. It will prove of immeasurable value for arbitrators, judges, in-house counsel, Mexican state-owned companies, global law firms, large- and medium-sized companies doing transnational business, policymakers, and arbitration academics.

Mexico has played a major role in shaping the growth and development of international arbitration practice, in great part due to its global prominence at the competitive forefront of manufacturing, agriculture, telecommunications, finance, real estate, tourism, trade, and commercial transactions, all while crafting its own policies to achieve the energy transition. In addition, its close ties with the United States and Canada, as well as its important business relations with the rest of the world, have made Mexico a leading subject of investment treaty practice. This book, the most comprehensive English book on the subject, offers a thorough practical analysis of arbitration in Mexico in a variety of specific fields as well in-depth description and analysis of the role and attitude of national courts towards arbitration and of national, regional, and international arbitration institutions.

Written by the leading lights of Mexican arbitration practice and scholarship, the contributions clearly and succinctly disentangle complex but common issues arising in commercial and investment treaty disputes. Features of Mexico’s dynamic body of arbitration law and practice covered include the following:

legal framework in which arbitration in Mexico operates;

characterization of international arbitration principles by Mexican courts;

cases which require decisions by a national court or authority;

public policy and arbitrability;

authority and duties of the arbitral tribunal;

document production in the Mexican arbitration practice;

judicial intervention in support of international arbitration;

state entities as actors in arbitration disputes;

hydrocarbons, power and M&A disputes;

use of technology in arbitral proceedings; and

quantum and damages.

This first comprehensive book in English on arbitration law and practice in Mexico provides an in-depth understanding of all of Mexico’s arbitration law and practice nationwide, practical guidance on identifying and assessing the different theoretical and practical legal avenues available, and relevant usages of ADR mechanisms in commercial disputes. It will prove of immeasurable value for arbitrators, judges, in-house counsel, Mexican state-owned companies, global law firms, large- and medium-sized companies doing transnational business, policymakers, and arbitration academics.