A Grave above Ground
Diana Hutton
An unwanted pregnancy leads a bright young woman into a life she could never have imagined. Unique, sad and sometimes darkly humorous, “A Grave above Ground” is a beggar's tale. It is about how easily life can change; escape from persecution and life as a refugee and homeless person, but also the beauty and limits experienced with the healing power of love and care. Its about reconciliation with loss and pain as well as awakening and closure. We are in Spain as we follow the life and thoughts of Mara, a Romanian beggar who sits, day after day, on the pavement outside a bank in Madrid. Little by little her past takes shape, her tragic past, as she reflects on the members of her family, as she describes the village of her childhood, the hardships of Ceausescu's Roumania, her relationships - one of which was her downfall. She takes the reader through her happy but troubled youth, her dysfunctional family, her loves and follies, an unwanted pregnancy, the sordid kidnapping of her baby by the Romanian authorities and the fruitless search for the infant in the Bucharest orphanages. We experience her flight from Roumania, her abuse as a refugee and illegal immigrant that throws her life into a sad downward spiral and near psychological collapse. After years of begging and loneliness, fate offers her a chance and rescues her through a ‘flu epidemic, when she lands comatose in the caring environment of a small Madrid hospital. After all this, can she find the strength to escape from the depths into which she has fallen? Mara's is a tale of sadness, of a woeful start to life and an ambiguous ending.
Duration - 9h 59m.
Author - Diana Hutton.
Narrator - Diana Hutton.
Published Date - Sunday, 01 January 2023.
Copyright - © 2017 DIANA HUTTON ©.
Location:
United States
Description:
An unwanted pregnancy leads a bright young woman into a life she could never have imagined. Unique, sad and sometimes darkly humorous, “A Grave above Ground” is a beggar's tale. It is about how easily life can change; escape from persecution and life as a refugee and homeless person, but also the beauty and limits experienced with the healing power of love and care. Its about reconciliation with loss and pain as well as awakening and closure. We are in Spain as we follow the life and thoughts of Mara, a Romanian beggar who sits, day after day, on the pavement outside a bank in Madrid. Little by little her past takes shape, her tragic past, as she reflects on the members of her family, as she describes the village of her childhood, the hardships of Ceausescu's Roumania, her relationships - one of which was her downfall. She takes the reader through her happy but troubled youth, her dysfunctional family, her loves and follies, an unwanted pregnancy, the sordid kidnapping of her baby by the Romanian authorities and the fruitless search for the infant in the Bucharest orphanages. We experience her flight from Roumania, her abuse as a refugee and illegal immigrant that throws her life into a sad downward spiral and near psychological collapse. After years of begging and loneliness, fate offers her a chance and rescues her through a ‘flu epidemic, when she lands comatose in the caring environment of a small Madrid hospital. After all this, can she find the strength to escape from the depths into which she has fallen? Mara's is a tale of sadness, of a woeful start to life and an ambiguous ending. Duration - 9h 59m. Author - Diana Hutton. Narrator - Diana Hutton. Published Date - Sunday, 01 January 2023. Copyright - © 2017 DIANA HUTTON ©.
Language:
English
Opening Credits
Duration:00:00:21
Chapter 1: Life at Ankle Level
Duration:00:07:55
Chapter 2: Observations and Memories
Duration:00:08:02
Chapter 3: Just Sitting
Duration:00:12:57
Chapter 4: The Clinic and Raimundo
Duration:00:20:47
Chapter 5: Petre
Duration:00:15:37
Chapter 6: A Bank Clerk
Duration:00:07:23
Chapter 7: Roxana the Tyrant
Duration:00:09:14
Chapter 8: Compassion
Duration:00:12:40
Chapter 9: Jorge
Duration:00:03:36
Chapter 10: Nostalgia
Duration:00:13:55
Chapter 11: A Plan
Duration:00:08:41
Chapter 12: Paca's Good Intentions
Duration:00:06:45
Chapter 13: A Glimpse of Understanding
Duration:00:07:45
Chapter 14: Radu - A Mistake
Duration:00:11:55
Chapter 15: Pregnant and Friendless
Duration:00:13:27
Chapter 16: Ceausescu and God
Duration:00:05:27
Chapter 17: Beggars and Birth
Duration:00:14:12
Chapter 18: Andrei
Duration:00:12:53
Chapter 19: Kidnapped
Duration:00:15:06
Chapter 20: Loneliness
Duration:00:17:22
Chapter 21: Love and Romance
Duration:00:06:58
Chapter 22: Love and Family
Duration:00:11:07
Chapter 23: A Job and Humiliation
Duration:00:15:47
Chapter 24: Ana
Duration:00:06:28
Chapter 25: Eva, My Child
Duration:00:20:00
Chapter 26: Simona's Death
Duration:00:10:14
Chapter 27: Julia
Duration:00:20:25
Chapter 28: Exodus
Duration:00:28:03
Chapter 29: Austria
Duration:00:15:32
Chapter 30: A Coffee Factory in Italy
Duration:00:04:55
Chapter 31: Viorica, Drugs in Trieste
Duration:00:16:40
Chapter 32: Birds
Duration:00:06:31
Chapter 33: Andreea and her Past
Duration:00:13:55
Chapter 34: Dictators
Duration:00:19:53
Chapter 35: Barcelona and Some Regrets
Duration:00:23:32
Chapter 36: Arrival in Madrid
Duration:00:09:55
Chapter 37: Dreams
Duration:00:18:16
Chapter 38: Spring Fever
Duration:00:10:23
Chapter 39: Clues
Duration:00:05:36
Chapter 40: Dreams and Reality
Duration:00:22:04
Chapter 41: Raimundo's Loss
Duration:00:22:06
Chapter 42: The Psychiatrist's Office
Duration:00:07:28
Chapter 43: Simona's Wisdom
Duration:00:21:39
Chapter 44: The Nursing Home
Duration:00:17:32
Chapter 45: Return to the Clinic
Duration:00:08:44
Chapter46: Mara's End
Duration:00:09:25
End Credits
Duration:00:00:12