When journalist and single mother Pamela Sampson adopted her son Joshua from Guatemala, she imagined an ordinary, love-filled life together. But just a year later, doctors delivered devastating news: Joshua had a rare congenital heart defect that threatened his survival.

This deeply moving memoir of motherhood, adoption, and resilience follows their journey through medical crises, impossible choices, and moments of unexpected grace. From the sterile corridors of hospitals to the chaotic warmth of Bangkok, where Pamela and Joshua built their lives, The Boy With the Backward Heart captures the struggle and strength of parenting a medically fragile child while living abroad.

With unflinching honesty and flashes of dark humor, Sampson explores the challenges of single parenting, the isolation of raising a sick child far from home, and the fierce love that binds parent and child through every setback.

A story of courage, survival, and maternal devotion, The Boy With the Backward Heart reminds readers that even in fear and uncertainty, love can sustain-and transform-an entire life.