Another Way Home

the long version

Thorndike was a twenty-four-year-old Peace Corps volunteer in El Salvador in 1967 when he met Clarisa, a vibrant and lovely Salvadoran girl, just nineteen. They fell in love, married, and in 1970 their son, Janir, was born. For the first year, Clarisa was devoted to her baby and rarely left his side. But slowly she began a terrifying drift into schizophrenia, behaving in ways that endangered her son's life. Fearing for his safety, Thorndike made the wrenching decision to bring Janir back to the United States and raise him alone. Another Way Home is the poignant account of their life together: their tender moments, their pitched battles, their heartbreaking reunions with Clarisa. Early on, Thorndike discovered how all-consuming it is to raise a child. Yet the rewards were enormous, and seldom has a child been so alive on the page. Whining, giggling, wildly exhilarated or inconsolably sad, this is a real kid in an eloquent and unforgettable book.