Never judge a book by its cover. It's a saying but how often I judge books just like that, and by judging this book by its cover I nearly passed up on a delicious and wonderfully written book.
This is a novel about a woman named Graciela told from three perspectives: Graciela's, Caridad and Impresiaro. C and I are from the village of her childhood in a small poor town in Cuba. The story trails their lives from before the revolution and then what happens afterwards up into when they arrive in the United States and the struggles they face when here.
This story is beautifully written. There are so many layers and so much to learn from it. On one hand, its a story of the loneliness of immigration. Sure people choose to come here but it can be an isolating feeling to leave what you know for what is wholly unfamiliar. I grew up in Miami where there were many many Cubans and there was a resentment at times by those of us who did not speak Spanish at how some Cubans seemed to refuse to learn English, this book talks about that and how some of these women refused to learn because they felt they were going back soon, they feared that learning meant admitting they were staying. The story is also about three women who went through hell and back, and how gossip can hold you back and how instead working to improve yourself and hoping against hope can make dreams come true. At its heart this is also a novel about redemption.
I love stories that teach me about life elsewhere, that help open my horizons and help me remember how similar we all are at the core of it. I recommend it to all.
No comments:
Post a Comment