It is
an interesting time to be Latin American, or Hispanic, in the united States. One of the positive aspects of our North American adventure is that never have this many Mexicans, Peruvians, Colombians, Dominicans - all of the Spanish speaking nations - lived together in one country. Ms. Henriquez does a
wonderful job of painting a very realistic and fair picture of our new melting pot. She writes with great familiarity about her characters because their accents and personalities ring
true. The people in the book are immigrants at different stages of their experience. Some of them are newly
arrived and others have lived here for decades, all are under a microscope, and
the author's comparisons and contrasts are fascinating.
The
book had a fantastic effect on me, in the hustle of everyday
life, it's hard to forget the plights of those who've just arrived to this
wonderful country. I'd forgotten what it felt like to be new in America and
this book was a beautiful reminder. It has made me take a fresh look at the
nameless and faceless immigrants who mow our lawns, fix our roofs and wash our
cars. Those forgotten people, who in our
society do not officially exist - the
unknown Americans. The book has made me more sympathetic to the plight of the
immigrant workers I see in my community every day.
All of
the characters in the book are interesting, although you can make a good
argument that not all of them were necessary. Some characters are just
introduced in a few pages and have little
to do with the main plot. I wondered why they are in the novel in the first
place, but they were all interesting to some degree. The
protagonists were
very realistic and engaging, and I grew to care about them. Their relationship seemed real, and intimate moments
are drawn with a splash of humor mixed with sadness. I also appreciated the
pro-American sentiment expressed by the main characters in the book, who miss
Mexico, but come to respect and genuinely love their adopted home.
I both
liked and disliked the final chapters of the book. It
would have been more believable, and satisfying, if the author would have let us see what happened to Arturo, instead of just telling us. However, I liked the ending, which I wish I could share with all of you but I won't because I
want you to read the book.
Anyone
interesting in Latino literature will appreciate this novel. The writing is
good, not as beautiful as Esmaralda Santiago, or as focused as Luis Urrea's, but the style is
easy to read and has moments of brilliance.
