A Flower Traveled In My Blood
Forthcoming on July 15, 2025
For readers of Say Nothing and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the epic, true story of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, grandmothers who fought to find their stolen grandchildren during Argentina's brutal dictatorship. During the military regime that decimated a generation from 1976-1983, hundreds of pregnant women like Patricia Roisinblit were disappeared—abducted, forced to give birth in captivity, then executed while their newborns were given to police and military families. United by faith that their grandchildren were still alive, fierce grandmothers formed the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, transforming into detectives who confronted military officers, assumed aliases, and pioneered groundbreaking genetics tests to find the stolen children.
A compelling mystery and deeply researched account of a pivotal era in world history, A Flower Traveled in My Blood takes readers on a journey of love, resilience, and redemption, revealing new truths about memory, identity, and family.
Available for preorder now via your local independent bookstore, Bookshop.org, or Amazon.
Preorder a signed or personalized copy through Bedford Books.
Early Praise
“Compulsively readable history... Gilliland’s work, exhaustively and compassionately researched, offers a crucial counterbalance to the dark legacy of Argentina’s desaparecidos, injecting the light of a model resistance movement that lay the groundwork for future international human rights investigations. Her humility and respect for the fraught journeys her subjects made toward each other and for the vital questions their journeys raised—about power, identity, family, and collective memory and healing—ensure the text will resonate for generations the world over. A piercing, emotional tribute to the value of persistent resistance.”
“Journalist Gilliland’s enthralling debut recaps the decades-long battle by a group of Argentinian grandmothers, the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, to locate their grandchildren who were kidnapped by the junta in the 1970s…Written with the nail-biting verve of a thriller, this spotlights relentless perseverance in the face of unthinkable brutality.”
“Haley Cohen Gilliland has written an extraordinary book: a compelling family saga and a forensic detective story set against a sweeping narrative of a hundred years of Argentine history, A Flower Traveled In My Blood is also a harrowing and timely reminder of what happens when democracy succumbs to despotism.”
— Adam Higginbotham, New York Times bestselling author of Midnight in Chernobyl and Challenger.
"In “A Flower Traveled in my Blood,” Haley Cohen Gilliland has delivered an unforgettable story of political crime and the unlikely detectives who worked across decades to restore their families and expose the truth about Argentina’s disappeared. Her narrative is at once a riveting read and an excavation of lasting importance."
— Steve Coll, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ghost Wars.
“A Flower Traveled in My Blood is a poignant testament to the power of love as a form of resistance. This expertly reported tale from the former Argentina correspondent for The Economist, Haley Cohen Gilliland, honors the families who were torn apart by dictatorship and sheds light on the lengths to which people will go for the sake of their loved ones.”
—Paste magazine, “The Most Anticipated Nonfiction Books and Memoirs of 2025”
“A Flower Traveled in My Blood meticulously chronicles a chapter of humankind at its worst, giving these times their gruesome due, lest they be forgotten and repeated.”
—Book Page (⭐ Starred Review)
“"... an unflinching playbook of what happens when a government's tyrannical impulses are fed as well as a heartbreaking, immersive account of what it means to stand up against injustice and demand that those who allow it move out of the way."
—Booklist (⭐ Starred Review)
“In this beautifully crafted narrative history, Haley Cohen Gilliland brings to light the stories of Argentinian grandmothers who used every method available, including nascent DNA testing, to locate the children and grandchildren ‘disappeared’ or even murdered during the dictatorship of the country’s military junta. The range of emotions is breathtaking; we learn of the horrors of disappearing, the grunt work of activism, the joys of reunion, and the pain and confusion felt by the disappeared as they try to reconcile their old and new identities. A Flower Traveled in My Blood is the riveting story of a dark history that we must not forget.”
—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University and the creator of “Finding Your Roots.”
“History is filled with tragedy and heartbreak, redemption and hope, but nothing compares to the story of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo. These women lost their children to a brutal dictatorship, and in the same cruel act, their grandchildren were taken. Their relentless search for them led the Abuelas to defy murderous squads, a complicit society, and political and judicial barriers. Yet, they kept going, creating profound changes in international law and science along the way, while providing new answers to essential moral questions about memory and identity. Haley Cohen Gilliland found the perfect thread to tell this complex, extraordinary story, and she’s done so masterfully and with great heart. And every bit of it is true.”
—Graciela Mochkofsky, author of The Prophet of the Andes
“Haley Cohen Gilliland’s monumental account of the stolen children of Argentina is a heartbreaking and humane story of devotion and moral courage, personal and cultural trauma, unfathomable political corruption and accountability, and the complexities of personal identity in the genetic age. The Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo now have a history fitting of their astonishing rigor and inspiring grace."
—Robert Kolker, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Valley Road.
“A Flower Traveled My Blood is a triumphant saga of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the face of pure malevolence. Haley Cohen Gilliland’s inspiring, engrossing tale reminds us that successful resistance to authoritarian oppression often comes from society’s seemingly least powerful—in this case, from a network of heartsick grandmothers armed with the superpowers of patience, persistence, and bottomless reservoirs of love.”
—Hampton Sides, NYT bestselling author of The Wide Wide Sea
Upcoming events
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Author Talk at Bedford Books
Bedford Books welcomes Haley Cohen Gilliland, author of A Flower Traveled in My Blood. Haley will be joined in conversation by communications strategist and journalist Jessica Rao. Books will be available for sale and signing. Wine and snacks will be served.
Wednesday, July 9 · 6:30 - 8pm EDT
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Book Discussion and Q/A at P&T Knitwear Books & Podcasts
P&T Knitwear welcomes Haley Cohen Gilliland to celebrate the publication of her debut book, A Flower Traveled in My Blood. Along with a discussion with New Yorker writer Graciela Mochkofsky and audience Q&A, Haley will sign copies of the book. This is a ticketed in-store event with doors opening at 6:30pm.
Tuesday, July 15 · 6:30 - 8pm EDT
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Book Discussion at Politics and Prose
Politics and Prose welcomes Haley Cohen Gilliland to celebrate the publication of her debut book, A Flower Traveled in My Blood. Join us for a discussion with the author. Books will be available for purchase. Seating is first come first serve.
Wednesay, July 16 · 7pm EDT