What do you think?
Rate this book
Class H #2
House Divided
In a Los Angeles barrio torn by years of ethnic war, decorated U.S. Army veteran Manolo Suarez is now a rebel leader struggling to sustain a faltering insurgency--and keep his family together and alive. His deeply-religious wife opposes the fighting. His teenage son has joined an extremist group bent on attacking innocent civilians. Now Mano must battle both a U.S. government dominated by demagogues and the terrorists in his own ranks--without betraying his son or losing his wife.
- GenresDystopia
321 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 28, 2011
1 person is currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Raul Ramos y Sanchez
6 books35 followers“January” is the first English word I ever learned. I read it on the calendar thumbtacked to the wall of our apartment in the Bronx. Han-noo-a-ree, I pronounced it. That was in the winter of 1957. My mother had just divorced my father and moved us from Havana to New York City. My father was busy trying to overthrow Batista and my mother thought her prospects for raising a seven-year-old son looked much better sewing sequins on evening gowns in the midtown garment district than in a Cuban prison. Thanks, mamá. You made the right call.
Since mastering that first English word, the power and joy of words have become my life. I not only love words, I’ve made a living from them. First, composing them into pages as a graphic designer, and later arranging them into sentences as an advertising writer. After twenty-four years of creating the fiction commonly known as advertising, I decided to start telling my own stories.
THE SKINNY YEARS is my fourth novel. Called “gritty and witty” by Foreword Reviews, it’s a coming-of-age story set in Miami during the stormy 1960s. The novel follows the quirky travails of young Victor “Skinny” Delgado and his Cuban-exile family over their first ten years in the United States. Some readers have asked if the novel is autobiographical. The short answer is “no.” But my childhood memories of growing up in Miami are the inspiration for the story. In reality, my first experiences in the U.S. began in New York City.
Since mastering that first English word, the power and joy of words have become my life. I not only love words, I’ve made a living from them. First, composing them into pages as a graphic designer, and later arranging them into sentences as an advertising writer. After twenty-four years of creating the fiction commonly known as advertising, I decided to start telling my own stories.
THE SKINNY YEARS is my fourth novel. Called “gritty and witty” by Foreword Reviews, it’s a coming-of-age story set in Miami during the stormy 1960s. The novel follows the quirky travails of young Victor “Skinny” Delgado and his Cuban-exile family over their first ten years in the United States. Some readers have asked if the novel is autobiographical. The short answer is “no.” But my childhood memories of growing up in Miami are the inspiration for the story. In reality, my first experiences in the U.S. began in New York City.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 12, 2011
House Divided: A body blow to the American conscience
First, some full disclosure is in order. I loved the first novel in this series by Raul Ramos y Sanchez: America Libre. It is an important, disturbing and provocative work that depicts a frightening America of the future, deeply fractured by Latino-Anglo civil war. So I admit I was a bit wary when I began reading the second novel, House Divided. So often with books and films, the follow-up is disappointing, paling in comparison with the original. This is not the case with this book. At turns, exciting, pensive and heartbreaking, House Divided is delivered as a body blow to the American conscience. The novel picks up where the preceding one left off. But this time, the positions are far more polarized, the brutality far more horrific on both sides. The central character is once again Manolo Suarez, a leader of the resistance, who is forced to fight for the survival of his people and his family. Suarez is a richly compelling character; not a willing warrior, but a tortured, complex man often at war with his own soul. In this book as in the first, there are no easy choices and no simple solutions. Each of the characters face gut-wrenching decisions that determine their own fate, as well as the outcome of the struggle. Inevitably and tragically, they lose a part of themselves in the process. It's important to note that for a novel that pivots on action, this work is not a broadsword but rather, a rapier. Ramos y Sanchez is not afraid to let the storyline "breathe." He doesn't ram conflict or confrontation down the reader's throat, but punctuates the story with moments of indecision and reflection. As a reader, I was allowed to think about the consequences of the characters' life-turning choices. As a result, I did not feel "manipulated" by the story. It is therefore, a tale that is far more thought-provoking than it might have been in the hands of a lesser writer. It goes without saying, that you will see parallels in House Divided to our nation's current reality; and sometimes the similarities are profoundly unsettling. In one scene early on, an Anglo character mentions that Latinos "breed like rats." If you've been following today's headlines at all, you will recognize the phrase. This prescient work warns us not to let the headlines become even more similar - and more sinister - down the road. And if you doubt the author's intent, simply read the dedication that opens the book. Americans have a common enemy to fight, and Ramos y Sanchez makes an eloquent appeal to us all to stand united against this most treacherous of foes. Read the book. Read the headlines. And for God's sake, think about what kind of country you want to live in.
Dom Cimei
First, some full disclosure is in order. I loved the first novel in this series by Raul Ramos y Sanchez: America Libre. It is an important, disturbing and provocative work that depicts a frightening America of the future, deeply fractured by Latino-Anglo civil war. So I admit I was a bit wary when I began reading the second novel, House Divided. So often with books and films, the follow-up is disappointing, paling in comparison with the original. This is not the case with this book. At turns, exciting, pensive and heartbreaking, House Divided is delivered as a body blow to the American conscience. The novel picks up where the preceding one left off. But this time, the positions are far more polarized, the brutality far more horrific on both sides. The central character is once again Manolo Suarez, a leader of the resistance, who is forced to fight for the survival of his people and his family. Suarez is a richly compelling character; not a willing warrior, but a tortured, complex man often at war with his own soul. In this book as in the first, there are no easy choices and no simple solutions. Each of the characters face gut-wrenching decisions that determine their own fate, as well as the outcome of the struggle. Inevitably and tragically, they lose a part of themselves in the process. It's important to note that for a novel that pivots on action, this work is not a broadsword but rather, a rapier. Ramos y Sanchez is not afraid to let the storyline "breathe." He doesn't ram conflict or confrontation down the reader's throat, but punctuates the story with moments of indecision and reflection. As a reader, I was allowed to think about the consequences of the characters' life-turning choices. As a result, I did not feel "manipulated" by the story. It is therefore, a tale that is far more thought-provoking than it might have been in the hands of a lesser writer. It goes without saying, that you will see parallels in House Divided to our nation's current reality; and sometimes the similarities are profoundly unsettling. In one scene early on, an Anglo character mentions that Latinos "breed like rats." If you've been following today's headlines at all, you will recognize the phrase. This prescient work warns us not to let the headlines become even more similar - and more sinister - down the road. And if you doubt the author's intent, simply read the dedication that opens the book. Americans have a common enemy to fight, and Ramos y Sanchez makes an eloquent appeal to us all to stand united against this most treacherous of foes. Read the book. Read the headlines. And for God's sake, think about what kind of country you want to live in.
Dom Cimei
March 25, 2011
Written as a near-future fiction of "what if" the hispanic population in the U.S.A. was quarantined into zones and treated as terrorists. It had an allegorical feel. The author makes a lot of parallels to what is going on in the world today in different countries. I thought he did a fair side of presenting both sides of the conflict- although you definitely sense that he leans more towards the hispanics. Thought provoking and interesting. There is some bad language.
April 9, 2019
Did not finish. Boring.
April 30, 2024
5.5 out of 10. The prose is decent, if a tad simplistic -- the plot line itself is solid, and in 2024 impossible to read without thinking of the current Middle East conflict.
January 23, 2011
I loved this book!
Mano Suarez, a former decorated U.S. Army veteran turned insurgent, and his family live in a Los Angeles barrio scarred by many years of ethnic war. His focus is to keep his family together and survive. His wife, Rosa, is deeply religious and opposes the fighting. His son, Pedro, is a teenager trying to find himself; in the process, Pedro joins an extremist group that attacks innocent civilians. This does not set well with his father, who must battle both a fractured country dominated by demagogues and the terrorists in his own ranks—without betraying his son or losing his wife.
As a woman, I especially liked Rosa’s relationship with Celia, a local curandera (faith healer); but I don’t want to spoil this engaging novel for you by giving away the good parts. Just put this one on your “must read” list. One scene was written so well, it had me multi-tasking - dodging bullets, while smelling and craving cake.
Raul recently received the “Latino Literacy Books Into Movies Award” for the trilogy "America Libre." I don’t know who will be cast as the main character, but I know that I already have a crush on Manolo “Mano” Suarez.
Mano Suarez, a former decorated U.S. Army veteran turned insurgent, and his family live in a Los Angeles barrio scarred by many years of ethnic war. His focus is to keep his family together and survive. His wife, Rosa, is deeply religious and opposes the fighting. His son, Pedro, is a teenager trying to find himself; in the process, Pedro joins an extremist group that attacks innocent civilians. This does not set well with his father, who must battle both a fractured country dominated by demagogues and the terrorists in his own ranks—without betraying his son or losing his wife.
As a woman, I especially liked Rosa’s relationship with Celia, a local curandera (faith healer); but I don’t want to spoil this engaging novel for you by giving away the good parts. Just put this one on your “must read” list. One scene was written so well, it had me multi-tasking - dodging bullets, while smelling and craving cake.
Raul recently received the “Latino Literacy Books Into Movies Award” for the trilogy "America Libre." I don’t know who will be cast as the main character, but I know that I already have a crush on Manolo “Mano” Suarez.
July 9, 2018
Few sequels keep or exceed the roller coaster pace set by it's predecessor. "House Divided" does not disappoint. Raul grabs his readers by the lapels and doesn't let them go until Mano steps into the darkness once again. "House Divided" leaves you catching your breath and wanting more.
Update 7/8/2018
Who thought that seven years later after reading this book, America would be heading into the Class H direction. It is prophetic, creepy, and like reading a history book of the future. I am rereading Class H, again.
Update 7/8/2018
Who thought that seven years later after reading this book, America would be heading into the Class H direction. It is prophetic, creepy, and like reading a history book of the future. I am rereading Class H, again.
May 3, 2013
Raul Ramos Y Sanchez took me to an L.A. with which I am not familiar and quite frankly hope never to be. House Divided vividly describes what can go wrong in a multi ethnic city full of fear but it also inspires as it describes what can go right with the human spirit. Raul Ramos Y Sanchez is Cuban born, raised in both New York City and Cuba and he draws from his own experience and considerable insight into the human soul to create this book.
July 18, 2015
It is the ideological conflicts about the way to wage an insurgency and the way to oppose it that are the most interesting about this novel. Interesting to see how ideologies can divide characters with common goals. Would like to read the final installment, Pancholand, but its only available online through the kindle.
February 22, 2016
Just like the first book this one you will not be able to put down.I love how you can not wait to see what happens next.
March 15, 2013
Stay tuned... Review on its way.
September 23, 2013
Reviewed on www.whichbook.net
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews