Status
Available
Genres
Publication
New York : Flatiron Books, 2019.
Description
Fiction. Literature. HTML: A GOOD MORNING AMERICA COVER TO COVER BOOK CLUB PICK This program includes a bonus conversation with the author.Named a Most Anticipated Book by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post, O Magazine, Time, Real Simple, Chicago Review of Books, Kirkus Reviews, Nylon, BuzzFeed, Lit Hub, The Millions, Instyle, Bustle, Refinery29, Hello Giggles, AARP, Domino "Coral Pena's strong delivery is a breath of fresh air...a master of accents and emotion, bringing genuine pathos to the story." � AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner Fifteen-year-old Ana Cancion never dreamed of moving to America, the way the girls she grew up with in the Dominican countryside did. But when Juan Ruiz proposes and promises to take her to New York City, she has to say yes. It doesn't matter that he is twice her age, that there is no love between them. Their marriage is an opportunity for her entire close-knit family to eventually immigrate. So on New Year's Day, 1965, Ana leaves behind everything she knows and becomes Ana Ruiz, a wife confined to a cold six-floor walk-up in Washington Heights. Lonely and miserable, Ana hatches a reckless plan to escape. But at the bus terminal, she is stopped by Cesar, Juan's free-spirited younger brother, who convinces her to stay. As the Dominican Republic slides into political turmoil, Juan returns to protect his family's assets, leaving Cesar to take care of Ana. Suddenly, Ana is free to take English lessons at a local church, lie on the beach at Coney Island, see a movie at Radio City Music Hall, go dancing with Cesar, and imagine the possibility of a different kind of life in America. When Juan returns, Ana must decide once again between her heart and her duty to her family. In bright, musical prose that reflects the energy of New York City, Angie Cruz's Dominicana is a vital portrait of the immigrant experience and the timeless coming-of-age story of a young woman finding her voice in the world. Praise for Dominicana: "Through a novel with so much depth, beauty, and grace, we, like Ana, are forever changed." �Jacqueline Woodson, Vanity Fair "Gorgeous writing, gorgeous story." �Sandra Cisneros.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl
Ana Canción is just fifteen when she is married to a man over twice her age and leaves her family and the Dominican Republic for a life in an apartment in New York City. It's an abrupt change from living with her large family on a farm to a small apartment in Washington Heights with only her
Angie Cruz based this novel on her mother's recollections and this novel is full of what life was like in Washington Heights in the mid-sixties as well as what was expected of her by both her husband and her family. Cruz is writing about a fifteen-year-old girl and the narration reflects the emotions and excitements of that age, even as Ana inhabits the life of a married, pregnant woman. This is a wonderful book, both as a vivid account of a specific time and place, and as the coming of age story of a young woman thrust into unfamiliar circumstances who fights to make a life for herself.
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husband and her husband's brother, both of whom are usually working. Ana is expected to stay in, cleaning house and cooking for her husband, but she longs to get a chance to learn English and start earning money to send home to her family. She's at the whim of her husband's moods and as an undocumented immigrant who speaks no English, she's especially dependent on him. When unrest envelopes the Dominican Republic in 1965, Ana's husband returns to protect his business interests, leaving Ana space to begin to see what life in the US might hold for her. Angie Cruz based this novel on her mother's recollections and this novel is full of what life was like in Washington Heights in the mid-sixties as well as what was expected of her by both her husband and her family. Cruz is writing about a fifteen-year-old girl and the narration reflects the emotions and excitements of that age, even as Ana inhabits the life of a married, pregnant woman. This is a wonderful book, both as a vivid account of a specific time and place, and as the coming of age story of a young woman thrust into unfamiliar circumstances who fights to make a life for herself.
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LibraryThing member eas7788
Many beautiful scenes. Depicted a world very vividly. I was not totally sold on the romance and sometimes felt a little unsure of what it was doing, but still excellent.
LibraryThing member MM_Jones
The author succeeds in doing what she set out to accomplish, telling the immigrant story from the view of a female from the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately, as the author explains in the acknowledgement, "Who would be interested in a story about a woman like me? It's so typical". The story is
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topical, the writing good, but the book isn't all that interesting. Show Less
LibraryThing member viviennestrauss
At times I wanted to just weep with frustration for Ana.
LibraryThing member Beth.Clarke
A gripping historical fiction novel set in NYC and the Dominican Republic. The author's writing style makes the settings come alive. It's quite descriptive and beautiful. The plot, seeming like the typical immigrant story, is anything but typical. Ana's a young teenager when she marries and moves
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to Harlem. She is forced to find her way and deal with tragic circumstances. She proves to be a strong, independent force. A perfect nominee for the Aspen Words prize. Show Less
LibraryThing member miss.mesmerized
Ana has always been an extraordinarily pretty child, so when she becomes a teenager, her parents see this as a chance to escape their poor situation. At the age of fifteen, she is married to one of the Ruiz brothers, a family making a fortune in the US which allows them to control more and more
Angie Cruz’s novel is set in the 1960s, but her protagonist’s fate could be as real in 2020. Young and naive girls fall prey to seducing men or are forced by their parents to leave their home country for a supposedly better life abroad where they, with the status as an illegal immigrant, hardly have a chance to escape their domestic situation which is often marked by poverty, oppression and being exposed to violence of all kinds by their domineering husbands. Dependence due to lack of language knowledge often combined with isolation makes them sooner or later give up all opposition and succumbing to the life they are forced to live.
It is easy to sympathise with Ana; at the beginning, she is a lively girl with dreams and vivid emotions even though she has also experienced her parents’ strict and at times brutal education. She is quite clever, nevertheless, the new life in New York overburdens her and she needs some time to accommodate and develop coping strategies. However, then, she becomes the independent thinker I had hoped for, but never egoistically does she only think about herself, she also reflects what any step could mean for her family at home whose situation with the political turmoil of 1965 worsens dramatically.
A wonderful novel about emancipation and a strong-willed young woman which allows a glance behind normally closed doors.
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land in the Dominican Republic. Ana has to follow her new husband to New York where she lives in a poor, rundown apartment and the promises of being able to go to school are soon forgotten. She has to serve Juan and his brothers and if she doesn’t obey or dares to speak up, he shows her with brutal force who has the say in their home. She becomes more and more desperate and finally develops a plan to flee, but she underestimates her new family.Angie Cruz’s novel is set in the 1960s, but her protagonist’s fate could be as real in 2020. Young and naive girls fall prey to seducing men or are forced by their parents to leave their home country for a supposedly better life abroad where they, with the status as an illegal immigrant, hardly have a chance to escape their domestic situation which is often marked by poverty, oppression and being exposed to violence of all kinds by their domineering husbands. Dependence due to lack of language knowledge often combined with isolation makes them sooner or later give up all opposition and succumbing to the life they are forced to live.
It is easy to sympathise with Ana; at the beginning, she is a lively girl with dreams and vivid emotions even though she has also experienced her parents’ strict and at times brutal education. She is quite clever, nevertheless, the new life in New York overburdens her and she needs some time to accommodate and develop coping strategies. However, then, she becomes the independent thinker I had hoped for, but never egoistically does she only think about herself, she also reflects what any step could mean for her family at home whose situation with the political turmoil of 1965 worsens dramatically.
A wonderful novel about emancipation and a strong-willed young woman which allows a glance behind normally closed doors.
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LibraryThing member PazEllis
Angie Cruz’s Dominicana is one of my favorite books written by Latina authors. Her style is refreshing and unique. The cover is perfect. I love the time period, as it is the same time my own mother came to the US and lived in New York City. I cringed at the sacrifice that Ana was forced to make
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for her family. She was a child and was thrust into a world of violence and loneliness, but she was brave and determined to not disappoint her mother. As a child of a Dominican woman, I could relate to the duty that young Ana would not betray. The upheaval in the Dominican Republic was all too real for my own Dominican family and it added to the feel of “historical fiction.” Show Less
LibraryThing member charl08
Set in the 1950s, the author's acknowledgements credit the inspiration of her mother's experience of migrating to the US. From Ana's POV we see her happiness in Dominica, despite grinding poverty and her mother's extreme corporal punishment when her children disobey her. Set up by her mother, Ana
"We marvel at the humongous dinosaur robot and the Ferris wheel.
Do you think one day we will all be able to fly, I say, and see each other when we make a phone call?
We'll even be able to take a vacation on the moon, Ana Mañana. Imagine us walking on the moon.
Not if we are wearing these clothes, I say."
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is married at 15 to one of 4 ambitious brothers with business plans for her father's land. She travels to the US on a tourist visa and her overprotective husband turns out to have secrets and a terrible temper. Ana's account of her experiences is limited by her language skills and her husband's desire that she stay home: only when he returns to work is she able to start to explore New York, taking an English class and making some money of her own. i loved Ana's bravery and the sense in the book that much was possible, even if not for her own generation."We marvel at the humongous dinosaur robot and the Ferris wheel.
Do you think one day we will all be able to fly, I say, and see each other when we make a phone call?
We'll even be able to take a vacation on the moon, Ana Mañana. Imagine us walking on the moon.
Not if we are wearing these clothes, I say."
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LibraryThing member bookchickdi
If you want to read a novel for Hispanic Heritage Month Angie Cruz’ novel, Dominicana is a great one. Fifteen year-old Ana lives in the countryside in the Dominican Republic in 1964. Her family struggles financially, and when an older local man, Juan Ruiz, has his eye on her, Ana’s mother is
Juan travels to New York City, where he has an apartment and works many jobs. Ana’s mother believes that if Ana marries Juan, it will enable the entire family to emigrate to the United States where they can make money and have a better life.
Ana does not want to marry Juan, but has no choice. She must do this for her family. She travels to New York where she is expected to cook and clean for Juan and his brother Cesar, who also lives with them. She speaks no English, and is not allowed to leave the apartment.
We see 1965 New York City through the eyes of these hard working immigrants. Juan and Cesar line up daily outside a hotel, hoping to be chosen as day worker in the kitchen or as a bellboy. They work two or three jobs, often in a single day, to make enough money to send home to fulfill their dream of opening a restaurant.
Ana does not love Juan, he can be abusive and demanding. She is lonely, and wants to learn English and get a job to have her own money. She’s not allowed to make any friends.
When there is political upheaval in the Dominican Republic, Juan returns home to protect his property. That leaves Cesar to keep watch over Ana. Cesar allows Ana more freedom, and she experiences life in New York on a different level. She and Cesar become closer as well.
It’s interesting to read an immigrant story set in this time period, to see New York City in 1965 through their eyes. It’s not a story often told. This celebrated book is a Good Morning America Book Club pick.
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thrilled. Juan travels to New York City, where he has an apartment and works many jobs. Ana’s mother believes that if Ana marries Juan, it will enable the entire family to emigrate to the United States where they can make money and have a better life.
Ana does not want to marry Juan, but has no choice. She must do this for her family. She travels to New York where she is expected to cook and clean for Juan and his brother Cesar, who also lives with them. She speaks no English, and is not allowed to leave the apartment.
We see 1965 New York City through the eyes of these hard working immigrants. Juan and Cesar line up daily outside a hotel, hoping to be chosen as day worker in the kitchen or as a bellboy. They work two or three jobs, often in a single day, to make enough money to send home to fulfill their dream of opening a restaurant.
Ana does not love Juan, he can be abusive and demanding. She is lonely, and wants to learn English and get a job to have her own money. She’s not allowed to make any friends.
When there is political upheaval in the Dominican Republic, Juan returns home to protect his property. That leaves Cesar to keep watch over Ana. Cesar allows Ana more freedom, and she experiences life in New York on a different level. She and Cesar become closer as well.
It’s interesting to read an immigrant story set in this time period, to see New York City in 1965 through their eyes. It’s not a story often told. This celebrated book is a Good Morning America Book Club pick.
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LibraryThing member richardderus
The pages turned...
On page 48, Ana Canción gets raped by Juan, the man she's already agreed to marry in order to escape Rafael Trujillo's repressive Dominican Republic for a "better life" in New York City.
They get to New York, start a tailoring business, and Ana gets pregnant. Yay. She decides to
Some more pages flip...
Juan behaves himself after he comes home from a trip to the Dominican, sort of; the baby's born; Ana's Mamá comes to stay just before the baby's born, the excrement saltates into the rotary ventilation enhancement device, Ana lives to fight another day.
It's a bog-standard immigrant story. It could be told by any woman of any nationality, not one thing here is unique. The author had a very good editor, one who left in enough Dominican Spanish to make the text more engrossing, and she possesses a finely honed sense for how much story she can tell before she hits telenovela territory. I didn't dislike it but in a week I won't remember a thing about it.
On page 48, Ana Canción gets raped by Juan, the man she's already agreed to marry in order to escape Rafael Trujillo's repressive Dominican Republic for a "better life" in New York City.
They get to New York, start a tailoring business, and Ana gets pregnant. Yay. She decides to
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run away from Juan, but his brother César convinces her to come back, be with him. Some things happen; Juan gets a mistress; Ana's pregnancy drags on and on and on; César leaves for Boston, leaves her finally-tasting-love pregnant ass with violent Juan who is in love with another woman.Some more pages flip...
Juan behaves himself after he comes home from a trip to the Dominican, sort of; the baby's born; Ana's Mamá comes to stay just before the baby's born, the excrement saltates into the rotary ventilation enhancement device, Ana lives to fight another day.
It's a bog-standard immigrant story. It could be told by any woman of any nationality, not one thing here is unique. The author had a very good editor, one who left in enough Dominican Spanish to make the text more engrossing, and she possesses a finely honed sense for how much story she can tell before she hits telenovela territory. I didn't dislike it but in a week I won't remember a thing about it.
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LibraryThing member thornton37814
Ana, a native of the Dominican Republic, marries an older Juan Ruiz, a Dominican living in New York, with the goal of eventually bringing her family to live in the United States. The abusive Juan doesn't love her. He just wants her family's property. His younger brother Cesar resides with them.
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After Juan returns to the Dominican Republic to protect his property during a Revolution, Cesar gives the pregnant Ana more freedom. She takes English classes from a nun. She finds ways to earn a little money. She learns to navigate the city. What will happen when Juan returns? Will her family make it to New York? I did not enjoy this book. I really wish the author had provided more on the revolution in the Dominican Republic. Although I lived in this era, I was young, and I don't remember it. I did not like the brothers--well at least the main two, Juan and Cesar. I'm sure others loved it a bit more than me, but I did not enjoy the book's violence. Show Less
LibraryThing member Hccpsk
Deceptively simple prose and small mini-chapters form the structure of Angie Cruz’s new book, Dominicana. A coming-of-age story following Ana from her poor, rural village in the Dominican Republic to New York City after marrying the much older, Juan, who really only wants her family’s land. Ana
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has to lie about her age, but in reality, she grows up just as fast in a terrible relationship and difficult circumstances. Cruz has created a real page-turner and deep character in Ana that is not easily forgotten. The political turmoil of 1960s DR and New York play a dynamic background to Ana’s inner turmoil and make for another interesting aspect of the book. Dominicana is a great choice for literary fiction readers looking for a new twist on a classic coming-of-age story. Show Less
LibraryThing member electrascaife
At 15, Ana is forced by her family to marry a man twice her age in order to secure them all the promise of a life in the states. Against her will she goes through with the arranged, loveless marriage and leaves for New York City with her new husband, to live in a 6-floor walk-up apartment in
This is a powerful story, nicely set within the political struggles of the times (NYC and the DR in the 1960s), and Ana's own story mirrors the turmoil felt outside her small apartment walls. Cruz is a good storyteller, and expertly makes the reader both worry for Ana as an innocent in a big, scary city while also wondering at her amazing strength. Definitely recommended.
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Washington Heights, and to live a life of loneliness and domestic violence. Her one joy is her husband's brother, who takes care of her when the husband returns to the Dominican Republic for several months, but when her husband returns with the promise that her family will join them sooner than they had hoped, she must choose between a life of familial duty and a life lived for herself and her newborn child.This is a powerful story, nicely set within the political struggles of the times (NYC and the DR in the 1960s), and Ana's own story mirrors the turmoil felt outside her small apartment walls. Cruz is a good storyteller, and expertly makes the reader both worry for Ana as an innocent in a big, scary city while also wondering at her amazing strength. Definitely recommended.
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LibraryThing member reader1009
audiobook fiction - 15 y.o. Dominican girl "marries" 30-something man and moves with him to the U.S. (1960s New York City), where things don't turn out at all like her family had hoped
Good writing and an interesting start, I just am having trouble focusing on the story - I think I would do better
Good writing and an interesting start, I just am having trouble focusing on the story - I think I would do better
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with this when I have more time and maybe also as a print book. Show Less
LibraryThing member arosoff
In the Dominican Republic in 1965, 15 year old Ana is married to Juan, four years after her parents' promise to him. Ana's parents make it clear: her marriage is their family's ticket to America. Juan will take her and they will bring her family to America. She is trapped by her obligation.
Ana's
That is, until Juan must return to the DR for an extended visit to deal with family finances during the civil war. Supervised only by Juan's fun loving brother César, Ana gets the physical and emotional space to begin to dream, to think about what she wants.
Ana's entire existence--and that of those around her--is enmeshed in a web of mutual obligation, and Cruz conveys that on both a personal level and as a symbol of immigration. (The novel is based in part on her mother's story.) Ana knows her success means her family's survival, and she cannot pursue her own dreams without crushing those of others. That said, it's not a heavy read; Cruz has a good eye for detail, and there are some delightfully funny sections, such as the one where Ana, angry at her husband, kills a New York City street pigeon, cooks it, and serves it to him for dinner.
1965 was a pivotal year in more ways than one: in the US it was the year of Malcolm X's assassination; in the DR it was the year of the civil war that ended with US intervention. The history of the period is woven in to the story, and it's worth further reading.
Ana's
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emotional trap becomes a literal one, too, as once in New York Juan keeps her firmly under his thumb, not even able to go shopping or to ESL classes. She must bear his beatings, his infidelity, his financial control, because of the promise of visas. Already too young for marriage, she's dropped into a new country with little guidance. She longs for home, for her family, and for the boy she left behind. Her emotional space becomes as compressed as the apartment she's trapped in; she's unable to consider her own needs or desires. That is, until Juan must return to the DR for an extended visit to deal with family finances during the civil war. Supervised only by Juan's fun loving brother César, Ana gets the physical and emotional space to begin to dream, to think about what she wants.
Ana's entire existence--and that of those around her--is enmeshed in a web of mutual obligation, and Cruz conveys that on both a personal level and as a symbol of immigration. (The novel is based in part on her mother's story.) Ana knows her success means her family's survival, and she cannot pursue her own dreams without crushing those of others. That said, it's not a heavy read; Cruz has a good eye for detail, and there are some delightfully funny sections, such as the one where Ana, angry at her husband, kills a New York City street pigeon, cooks it, and serves it to him for dinner.
1965 was a pivotal year in more ways than one: in the US it was the year of Malcolm X's assassination; in the DR it was the year of the civil war that ended with US intervention. The history of the period is woven in to the story, and it's worth further reading.
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LibraryThing member Islandmum84
A poignant and emotional story of a fifteen year old's wife life in New York. I love the writing New York feels very much like another character in story. It's a tale of love and hope and little people with big dreams.
LibraryThing member Rachelraquel
I wish she would write 100 more books. I love her stories.
LibraryThing member Dreesie
Interesting, thought-provoking, and enjoyable (maybe not exactly the right word) novel about Ana, a 15-year-old from the Dominican Republic who is married off by her mother to a 30-something man who takes her to New York in the 1960s. Her mother is confident that he and his brothers will save the
Well down and wonderfully narrated by Coral Peña, the story is linear and well suited to an audiobook.
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family land with their strong work ethic, and the rest of the family can help after being sponsored to NY by Ana and Ruiz. Ana has little say, but is excited, at least at first. But she cook and cleans and works works works to try to make money to send home. She wants to go to school, but Juan wants her making money. Her naivete comes back to hurt her more than once, and she has to grow up.Well down and wonderfully narrated by Coral Peña, the story is linear and well suited to an audiobook.
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LibraryThing member BibliophageOnCoffee
I really loved getting lost in Ana's story, especially these days.
LibraryThing member LyndaInOregon
Ana is eleven years old when we meet her – the second oldest daughter in a large Dominican Republic family that includes cousins as well as siblings. She has come to the attention of Juan Ruiz – one of a clan of brothers who are essentially wheeler-dealers with big plans. There’s an
Bowing to pressure from her family, Ana eventually agrees to marry Juan, to go with him to New York, and once established there, to help the rest of her family emigrate.
That’s the set-up for the bulk of the novel, as 15-year-old Ana rapidly becomes disillusioned with marriage, pines away in an essentially empty apartment as her husband goes about his business (which includes selling stolen goods, waiting tables at a hotel, promoting various deals, and carrying on an affair with a married woman). Her efforts to adjust, to improve herself by learning English and getting a basic education, to squirrel away a few dollars at a time out of Juan’s view, propel her into multiple situations that test her resilience and resourcefulness. Things take a turn when Juan leaves his pregnant bride to go back to the Dominica Republic to nail down the land transfer. But he is caught in a war zone when the U.S. occupies the island to intervene in a civil war. Meantime, Ana is placed under the protection of Juan’s youngest brother, and the undeniable attraction between the two young people creates complications.
There’s a lot going on here, most of it seen through Ana’s eyes, with short excursions into Juan’s POV. In some ways, she’s incredibly resourceful; in others she handles herself the way most 15-year-olds would. She longs for her family, for the familiar foods and social events of her home, tries to prepare for the coming baby, and copes with Juan’s rages and frustrations, which he frequently takes out on her with his fists. And underneath it all is her own grown sexual awareness, which finds its inevitable outlet with the only man to whom she is physically close.
Ana is an easy character to identify with – basically good, hard-working, and utterly in over her head in New York. Many of the challenges she faces are exacerbated by her own awareness that she’s in the country with falsified papers and could face deportation if she interfaces with any official agencies. This fear keeps her from utilizing the social safety nets that might make her plight easier to bear.
Juan, while less likeable, is also a man of his time and upbringing. He has certain expectations of his wife’s place, and reacts to any conflict with her in the same way he saw other men react within their own families. He’s utterly sincere about succeeding in business, but the deck is pretty well stacked against him. He knows this, and so has no compunctions about bending the rules to even up the odds.
The novel is set in the mid-sixties and utilizes then-current events well as a backdrop to the characters’ actions and impressions of their newly-adopted country.
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undercurrent here that Juan is more interested in the beachfront property Ana’s family claims, but he also sees her develop into a nubile teen on his frequent visits from New York.Bowing to pressure from her family, Ana eventually agrees to marry Juan, to go with him to New York, and once established there, to help the rest of her family emigrate.
That’s the set-up for the bulk of the novel, as 15-year-old Ana rapidly becomes disillusioned with marriage, pines away in an essentially empty apartment as her husband goes about his business (which includes selling stolen goods, waiting tables at a hotel, promoting various deals, and carrying on an affair with a married woman). Her efforts to adjust, to improve herself by learning English and getting a basic education, to squirrel away a few dollars at a time out of Juan’s view, propel her into multiple situations that test her resilience and resourcefulness. Things take a turn when Juan leaves his pregnant bride to go back to the Dominica Republic to nail down the land transfer. But he is caught in a war zone when the U.S. occupies the island to intervene in a civil war. Meantime, Ana is placed under the protection of Juan’s youngest brother, and the undeniable attraction between the two young people creates complications.
There’s a lot going on here, most of it seen through Ana’s eyes, with short excursions into Juan’s POV. In some ways, she’s incredibly resourceful; in others she handles herself the way most 15-year-olds would. She longs for her family, for the familiar foods and social events of her home, tries to prepare for the coming baby, and copes with Juan’s rages and frustrations, which he frequently takes out on her with his fists. And underneath it all is her own grown sexual awareness, which finds its inevitable outlet with the only man to whom she is physically close.
Ana is an easy character to identify with – basically good, hard-working, and utterly in over her head in New York. Many of the challenges she faces are exacerbated by her own awareness that she’s in the country with falsified papers and could face deportation if she interfaces with any official agencies. This fear keeps her from utilizing the social safety nets that might make her plight easier to bear.
Juan, while less likeable, is also a man of his time and upbringing. He has certain expectations of his wife’s place, and reacts to any conflict with her in the same way he saw other men react within their own families. He’s utterly sincere about succeeding in business, but the deck is pretty well stacked against him. He knows this, and so has no compunctions about bending the rules to even up the odds.
The novel is set in the mid-sixties and utilizes then-current events well as a backdrop to the characters’ actions and impressions of their newly-adopted country.
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LibraryThing member bell7
At the age of 15, Ana is the hope of her family in the Dominican Republic. El Jefe has just died, and her Papa sells land to the Ruiz brothers - and as part of the deal, Juan Ruiz and Ana marry and go to New York. Mama is determined she will send them money and eventually the family will migrate as
Author Angie Cruz tells a story inspired by her own mother and others who had similar experiences moving from the Dominican Republic to Washington Heights. Ana is a strong character and really grows into her own as she becomes pregnant and carves out a life for herself. Her experiences and that of her family are sometimes hard to read about it, but it's realistic and still allows glimpses of hope.
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well. But Ana finds herself alone in a strange place where she doesn't know the language and her husband, in love with someone else, suddenly doesn't seem all that interested in helping her family.Author Angie Cruz tells a story inspired by her own mother and others who had similar experiences moving from the Dominican Republic to Washington Heights. Ana is a strong character and really grows into her own as she becomes pregnant and carves out a life for herself. Her experiences and that of her family are sometimes hard to read about it, but it's realistic and still allows glimpses of hope.
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Awards
Women's Prize for Fiction (Longlist — 2020)
Alex Award (2020)
Aspen Words Literary Prize (Longlist — 2020)
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction (Longlist — Fiction — 2020)
BookTube Prize (Octofinalist — Fiction — 2020)