“A man doesn’t know what he thinks until a woman makes him think it.”
This is the story of Ana, a 15 year old girl living in the Dominican Republic. Her family is desperate to marry her off because it is one less mouth to feed in a very difficult time, but also because they need to get out of The Dominican and their only hope of getting out is Ana. Her mother finds a man originally from DR who is now living and working in New York. Ana's marriage to him is finalized as a sort business agreement. Ana's mom promises her a cushy life in New York and tells her the family will join her there soon.
This story is really about dreams. It starts out with the desperate dreams of her parents overriding her impractical childish dreams. These dreams shift as her personal sacrifices increase to keep her husband's dreams a possibility. Eventually, very reluctantly, this story starts to allow Ana's dreams to come into view. All this time she has relinquished her dreams and eased the pain of this relinquishing by assuring herself that everyone else's dreams were also her own. Instead of settling for everyone else's dreams and expectations of her, she seeks out her own. This added layer pushes this book from good to great.
This book reminded me of my own Abuela's immigration story. It reminded me of the difficutlities she faced and the sacrifices she made for the freedom of our family. The best stories make you feel closer to the people you love by opening up empathy for what others have endured. This story accomplished that and I feel grateful to Angie Cruz for a perfect example of the magic that can happen when a beautiful story arc meets carefully constructed characterization.
4/5 Stars
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