Like many of the other books we have read in this class, the story is non-linear nor straight-forward in its telling of events and emotions. Rather, it is like a mosaic of snippets of many peoples experiences and understanding of political upheaval, loss, desire, uprooting, and assimilation. I think that this is a conscious choice of many of the authors that we have read, as these experiences and emotions are not concrete or easily explained, but rather dynamic and complex. Just as Julia Alvarez mirrors the fuzziness and fluidity of memory in How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, layering this book in such a way seems to be a more accurate depiction of the complexity and collective voice and collective struggle that Chilean exiles have faced.
What made the book feel very human to me was the fact that that though the stories were heavily laced with political commentary and the experience of cultural assimilation, she did not exclude other human sentiments of her telling of events. She included stories of romantic love and loss, of the common struggles that families face, and lighter stories including the one about missing the Astor Piazolla concert twice. Also, I would say that this book would fall into the category of a feminist novel based on the way that we have defined it in this class. Many of the stories are written from the perspective of women, and women are portrayed as strong and important agents in both a revolutionary sense and also in facing challenges of assimilation.