This book really hit me close to the heart. As an immigrant from a latin country, I can relate to the things being mentioned in the story. Its hard to describe exactly how I feel at home reading it, but I think that is what is so distinctively south american. The descriptions of the dad’s birthday parties sound like my family’s birthday parties. That feeling of being around all of your family members and enjoying their company is something I miss profoundly. My family of 4 people is the only contact I get, as I have family all around the world but we never actually see each other at the same time.
My wikipedia project is Julia Alvarez, and so I’m really excited to read a book by an author with whom I’m familiar with. I can see the roots of the author in the story, and it is said to be so realistic that her own sisters and mother didn’t speak with her for a long time after it was published as they felt it was offensive.
Also, Alvarez’s father escaped the Dominican after being an active protester of the current government of the time. The father in this story resembles him in the way he just wants what is best for his family. The way he hands out money to his daughters because he believes his hard work is all to better the lives of his family members really illustrated how Alvarez’s own father felt about his family and his country.
I’m looking forward to seeing how this book flourishes and how “the garcia girls lost their accents” haha
The style of this book is not as coherent as I would’ve liked however. Although the chapters are all about the same woman (I believe), it is still a different story at every chapter. This reminds me somewhat of “Y no se trago la tierra” as the reader is forced to re-orient themselves at every twist and turn.
I admire Alvarez’s brutal honesty about her own family members: it takes a lot of guts to write this closely about a character knowing the people they are based on are going to eventually read what you have to say. It almost feels like I am reading a journal entry and entering her thoughts in a really private matter.
The story about the guavas shows that side of Alvarez that is almost victorian in nature (sorry haha talking about this in another class). She strives to be her best at everything she does and not to give up when there appears to be a barrier.