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Mother Archive: A Dominican Family Memoir
A family murder kept secret, the mysterious disappearance of her father, the systematic erasing of family photographs, a turbulent relationship with her mother, layers of trauma and abuse. In Mother Archive, Erika Morillo reconciles these demons of her past by searching for and seeking out the roots of her family. Intertwining memories with archival family photographs, news clippings, film stills, and artistic images, Morillo revisits her childhood growing up in the Dominican Republic, a place and time riddled with a history of violence and a tradition of erasure.
Spanning three generations across three different countries, this memoir works as a map in which the author traces incidents in her family history to help her understand herself and her own experience as a mother.
Spanning three generations across three different countries, this memoir works as a map in which the author traces incidents in her family history to help her understand herself and her own experience as a mother.
250 pages, Paperback
Published October 28, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 10, 2024
I’m placeless.
Un asesinato secreto en la familia, la misteriosa desaparición de su padre, la eliminación sistemática de las fotos familiares, una turbulenta relación con su madre, capas de trauma y abuso. Estos son algunos de los temas que Erika Morillo aborda en Mother Archive, un trabajo que parece ser una exhaustiva herramienta de sanación, donde reconcilia los demonios de su pasado al indagar en lo más profundo de su familia.
Las descripciones son bellamente trágicas. Observamos a una mujer en constante conflicto con los hallazgos; una mujer que se siente culpable de indagar en el pasado de su madre, pero que a la vez lo reconoce necesario para una reconciliación. Porque de manera paradójica, ella y su madre están unidas por un hilo invisible que necesita ser encontrado para contar su propia historia.
La catastrófica relación filial refleja sus estragos en la adultez y confiesa con zozobra en un punto del texto: “Me siento incapaz de echar raíces; crece dentro de mí una urgencia de escapar cada vez que elijo un lugar para convertirlo en mi hogar”.
Desentrañando tres generaciones a lo largo de tres países distintos, esta memoria es un mapa en donde Erika Morillo rastrea los incidentes en la historia de su familia como una forma de autodescubrimiento y fortalecimiento de su propia experiencia como madre.
Un asesinato secreto en la familia, la misteriosa desaparición de su padre, la eliminación sistemática de las fotos familiares, una turbulenta relación con su madre, capas de trauma y abuso. Estos son algunos de los temas que Erika Morillo aborda en Mother Archive, un trabajo que parece ser una exhaustiva herramienta de sanación, donde reconcilia los demonios de su pasado al indagar en lo más profundo de su familia.
Las descripciones son bellamente trágicas. Observamos a una mujer en constante conflicto con los hallazgos; una mujer que se siente culpable de indagar en el pasado de su madre, pero que a la vez lo reconoce necesario para una reconciliación. Porque de manera paradójica, ella y su madre están unidas por un hilo invisible que necesita ser encontrado para contar su propia historia.
La catastrófica relación filial refleja sus estragos en la adultez y confiesa con zozobra en un punto del texto: “Me siento incapaz de echar raíces; crece dentro de mí una urgencia de escapar cada vez que elijo un lugar para convertirlo en mi hogar”.
Desentrañando tres generaciones a lo largo de tres países distintos, esta memoria es un mapa en donde Erika Morillo rastrea los incidentes en la historia de su familia como una forma de autodescubrimiento y fortalecimiento de su propia experiencia como madre.
March 26, 2025
Such a stunning book! Absolutely loved it.
October 18, 2024
I went into this book not knowing what to expect, but I certainly didn’t expect this! I could not put this one down.
Morillo details her very difficult and abusive relationship with her mother, and I’ll be honest and confess that it was sometimes a tough read for me, since we both come from similar backgrounds (Dominican, parent(s) who were activists) but our stories could not be more different.
Thank you to the publisher and author for providing a free copy of this book through NetGalley.
Morillo details her very difficult and abusive relationship with her mother, and I’ll be honest and confess that it was sometimes a tough read for me, since we both come from similar backgrounds (Dominican, parent(s) who were activists) but our stories could not be more different.
Thank you to the publisher and author for providing a free copy of this book through NetGalley.
September 8, 2024
Reading the book you can understand Erika and the title of the book. This memoir not only gets you to know about Erika but also includes some history from her home country. The use of photography to depict some of the chapters is awesome.
I received this book as an e-arc in NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as an e-arc in NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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September 23, 2025Erika Morillo has revisited her family history before. The Dominican-born photographer and writer did so in her photo book, 'All of Them,' where she narrated a conversation with her disappeared father.
But there was still more that eluded Morillo. She yearned to grasp what she described as the core story – about her upbringing, her mother, and their larger family history.
So Morillo began to write about her life in bits and pieces, until she had before her a collection of disparate notes. Those fragments came to form 'Mother Archive: A Dominican Family Memoir,' Morillo’s memoir about her life and the lifelong pain embedded in a turbulent relationship with her mother.
Out now from the University of Iowa Press, 'Mother Archive' is an incredibly affecting and incisive memoir about a quest for love and the attempt to undo generations-deep damage. Morillo presents memories and family stories with unflinching honesty, intertwining them with archival family photographs, film stills, images she herself choreographed, and news clippings. And she offers her new book with the acute awareness that the ethics around writing a memoir, and about living family members, is complicated. “But I find that everybody processes pain differently,” she said recently. “Some people prefer to process in silence because it hurts too much. Others develop a certain anger and direct it towards others. In my case, I write. I make images.”
In 'Mother Archive' readers are brought into Morillo’s difficult childhood in the Dominican Republic, where her father disappeared physically and then visually after her mother threw away photographs of him. The author then brings her readers along to New York City and Chile, where we watch as she navigates layers of trauma and abuse, and becomes a mother herself.
As a reader, one of the most striking aspects of Mother Archive for me was Morillo’s decision to structure the book as if she was speaking directly to her mother. It was both empowering and unsettling to read, and I found myself rooting for Morillo to come out stronger on the other end of her story. In one passage, the author describes receiving photos her mother sent by mail. At the time, Morillo was in the middle of moving out of NYC when she received the last photos. They were two portraits of her mother.
“I had to decide what to do with you, and in a split second, I opted to put you in the trash. I tore the box with my house keys and undressed you out of the plastic wrapping,” Morillo writes. “Holding your gaze through the cloudy glass on the frames, it unsettled me to see how much I resemble you, even in my rejection.”
I spoke with Morillo for the Dominican Writers Association about the decision to write this memoir, the role of photography in her life, and more. You can read our full conversation here: https://www.dominicanwriters.org/post...
But there was still more that eluded Morillo. She yearned to grasp what she described as the core story – about her upbringing, her mother, and their larger family history.
So Morillo began to write about her life in bits and pieces, until she had before her a collection of disparate notes. Those fragments came to form 'Mother Archive: A Dominican Family Memoir,' Morillo’s memoir about her life and the lifelong pain embedded in a turbulent relationship with her mother.
Out now from the University of Iowa Press, 'Mother Archive' is an incredibly affecting and incisive memoir about a quest for love and the attempt to undo generations-deep damage. Morillo presents memories and family stories with unflinching honesty, intertwining them with archival family photographs, film stills, images she herself choreographed, and news clippings. And she offers her new book with the acute awareness that the ethics around writing a memoir, and about living family members, is complicated. “But I find that everybody processes pain differently,” she said recently. “Some people prefer to process in silence because it hurts too much. Others develop a certain anger and direct it towards others. In my case, I write. I make images.”
In 'Mother Archive' readers are brought into Morillo’s difficult childhood in the Dominican Republic, where her father disappeared physically and then visually after her mother threw away photographs of him. The author then brings her readers along to New York City and Chile, where we watch as she navigates layers of trauma and abuse, and becomes a mother herself.
As a reader, one of the most striking aspects of Mother Archive for me was Morillo’s decision to structure the book as if she was speaking directly to her mother. It was both empowering and unsettling to read, and I found myself rooting for Morillo to come out stronger on the other end of her story. In one passage, the author describes receiving photos her mother sent by mail. At the time, Morillo was in the middle of moving out of NYC when she received the last photos. They were two portraits of her mother.
“I had to decide what to do with you, and in a split second, I opted to put you in the trash. I tore the box with my house keys and undressed you out of the plastic wrapping,” Morillo writes. “Holding your gaze through the cloudy glass on the frames, it unsettled me to see how much I resemble you, even in my rejection.”
I spoke with Morillo for the Dominican Writers Association about the decision to write this memoir, the role of photography in her life, and more. You can read our full conversation here: https://www.dominicanwriters.org/post...
January 2, 2025
Greatly enjoyed this memoir.
We all have slights and injuries and sometimes real crimes that tinge our memories of childhood and growing up. For Morillo, these include the murder of her father, but perhaps worse was the neglect and lovelessness of her mother, a behavior that overshadows her whole life. It is a saving grace that the writer also had solid and positive other female figures in her life, in addition the clear-sightedness and intelligence to eventually unpack the dynamic that brings her down.
The writer does what the best writers do — she brings in scents, textures and tastes to make settings and memories more vivid. And one of the things that sets this book apart is the scattering of photographs — many of water, mostly ocean surf along the shore, which evokes her roots in the Dominican Republic but is also associated with birth and the mother. There are also photos of the writer at different stages of life, as well as her mother and her son. I found the photos very effective.
For some weird reason with memoirs I gravitate towards those of people I know nothing or next-to-nothing about, and often I end up feeling alienated and uninterested. This did not happen with this book. The writer opens up. She is writing to terms with her life.
Full disclosure: The writer provided a copy of the book in exchange for a review.
We all have slights and injuries and sometimes real crimes that tinge our memories of childhood and growing up. For Morillo, these include the murder of her father, but perhaps worse was the neglect and lovelessness of her mother, a behavior that overshadows her whole life. It is a saving grace that the writer also had solid and positive other female figures in her life, in addition the clear-sightedness and intelligence to eventually unpack the dynamic that brings her down.
The writer does what the best writers do — she brings in scents, textures and tastes to make settings and memories more vivid. And one of the things that sets this book apart is the scattering of photographs — many of water, mostly ocean surf along the shore, which evokes her roots in the Dominican Republic but is also associated with birth and the mother. There are also photos of the writer at different stages of life, as well as her mother and her son. I found the photos very effective.
For some weird reason with memoirs I gravitate towards those of people I know nothing or next-to-nothing about, and often I end up feeling alienated and uninterested. This did not happen with this book. The writer opens up. She is writing to terms with her life.
Full disclosure: The writer provided a copy of the book in exchange for a review.
September 29, 2024
History is never linear, and Morillo makes an exceptional approximation of that through representations of memories –sometimes factual–, and language. Subjects of gender, migration, and political context are esencial parts of its narrative and situate the reader in a bigger contextual landscape. The photographs and texts are not complementary but essential to each other, like those in a “Libro-Álbum”. Mother archive is not only about the maternal figure, or its absence —but about the motherland, the mother tongue, and the space where language fails us.
I read this book in one sitting.
Make sure to bring your tissues.
I read this book in one sitting.
Make sure to bring your tissues.
August 30, 2024
I have been reading more books by Dominican authors and I was very happy to be approved to read Mother Archive.
We get to read Erika's memoir, how she uses her photography to show us the ups and downs with all her relationships. We also get to see how important a relationship with our parents is. We are able to see how she uses fire and water to show us how they can represent our emotions and behaviors.
Thank you to NetGalley and University Of Iowa Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
#MotherArchive #NetGalley
We get to read Erika's memoir, how she uses her photography to show us the ups and downs with all her relationships. We also get to see how important a relationship with our parents is. We are able to see how she uses fire and water to show us how they can represent our emotions and behaviors.
Thank you to NetGalley and University Of Iowa Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
#MotherArchive #NetGalley
February 7, 2026
“Shivering in this apartment, I think of you and wonder if this would amuse you, if you’d think I deserve this for being such an ungrateful daughter. I’m a few months shy of turning forty, and it’s been almost twenty years since I left you, my mother—only two days after graduating college—since I got far away from you en la isla, since I heard you say the words “I know you’re never coming back” from across the living room as I stuffed a tall duffle bag on wheels with all my belongings.” (pg 10)
November 9, 2024
This outstanding new book combines Erika’s beautiful writing and photography to tell her very personal story of her difficult mother/child relationships as a child and a mother. All this as she immigrates to NYC from the Dominican Republic then to Chile and back again. I want to highly recommend this at a time when listening to the stories of immigrants is more important than ever. Plus, it will move you and delight you. I promise.
December 11, 2024
"Sound itself can be a form of violence, but silence can be the most violent of all. A void that continues to kill after death"
Morillo uses the art of memoir to come to grips of the losses of her life. It may have helped her but unfortunately for people like me parts made no sense. I have read other memoirs of escape to America that were better articulated. And, in this reader's opinion, the pictures detracted rather than enhanced the sad tale. 2/5
Morillo uses the art of memoir to come to grips of the losses of her life. It may have helped her but unfortunately for people like me parts made no sense. I have read other memoirs of escape to America that were better articulated. And, in this reader's opinion, the pictures detracted rather than enhanced the sad tale. 2/5
April 2, 2025
Honestly so so stunning. I dream of creating a project like this someday. The memoir is told in a series of essays and black and white photographs and has left me inspired to keep working towards my artistry. I don't think the story was as impactful as I expected, and that is most likely due to the lack of relatability I felt throughout. I'm really glad I took my time getting through this and sat with the photos in tandem with the essays. Memoir class reading list really hits another homer!!!
September 5, 2024
This book overflows with raw, unfiltered emotion. Erika’s tumultuous relationship with her mother is depicted in a way that is both beautiful and gut-wrenching, revealing the profound impact it has on her life. The storytelling captures all the complexity of how trauma is passed off through generations with a depth that resonates long after the last page.
October 30, 2024
The perspective of the author's childhood is fascinating and further illuminated by the photographs added. This book has also allowed me to better understand the political climate of the Dominican Republic from a native perspective. I also love how the story reflects on the actions of her mother through her childhood, it felt therapeutic. As she dives into how different parts of her identity have impacted her over time, this beautiful story comes together. I would recommend anyone willing to go on this journey sit down and read this book.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews