Imperfecta

by Robin Martinez Rice

In 1923 fourteen-year-old Perfecta makes the decision she won’t be perfect any more. A face-off with her father, Primitivo, the sheriff of the small Northern New Mexico town, seems to do the trick. But what now, with her mother never leaving the rocking chair at the front window and her father ignoring her? Surely even their harsh Catholic God doesn’t think that dancing, smiling and laughing are sins? But Perfecta knows that falling in love with the twenty-two-year-old blue-eyed Presbyterian Isaac Martinez is a sin. When Isaac leaves for California, she promises to wait for him. But has she escaped one prison only to be trapped by another?

344 pages, Paperback

First published January 10, 2013

Reviews

[Margo Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the story telling. I just wanted to keep reading and find out what happened next. Included a lot of potentially sensitive subjects with varying perspectives. It all seemed so real. These people, circumstances and settings exist then and now. A good reminder of what a good friend is and the value of helping others. A good read.

[Jude · Rating 5 out of 5]

I savored this slowly, as I fell in love with the characters and their story. I found myself thinking of my own grandparents and their early days in Oakland, CA.

Perfecta is independent and strong willed...but also quite hard on herself, as she has called herself Imperfecta. In her voice, the story covers a span of about 15 or more years of her life in New Mexico as the daughter of the town sheriff and her later married life in Oakland, California.

[Mills College Library]

Fiction R4975i 2013