New Book Reflects on Lessons Learned in Life - In "Orchids of Venezuela," a new book by Karen Sturges-Vera, Tamara wakes to the news that rebel forces are attacking the president of Venezuela and bombing the airport in a second attempt to overthrow the government. To get through the present, she focuses on her past by retracing her childhood and life.
She seeks reassurance in her troubled present by revisiting her childhood in Merida, youth in Caracas, university years in Dallas, Texas, and her return to Caracas as an adult. Lastly she relives becoming a wife and mother, and how she has witnessed both dictatorship and democracy in Venezuela. Through the story of her life, she reveals her relationships with her family, friends, society, and ultimately herself.