Women Surrounded by Water: A Memoir

by Patricia Coral

Growing up in Puerto Rico, Patricia Coral was surrounded by women who fought for their needs amid the demands of domesticity and who were dismissed and judged when they rejected any predetermined paths on an island that itself has never been free. At age twenty-five, she married her first love, a green-eyed musician whose internal storms drove Coral to slowly realize that the marriage must end. Faced with disillusionment—with her husband, with the patriarchal expectations that surrounded her like the Caribbean Sea, and with the limited options available to her—she leaves, only for Hurricane Maria to wrench her heart homeward.

Coral evokes the beauty, love, and language of her family and of Puerto Rico as well as the pain of yearning for more. Tastes, colors, and the dreamlike lushness of childhood memories infuse this mournful and propulsive memoir of personal and natural disasters—and the self-discovery made possible only when we choose what to leave behind.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Feminism

148 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2024

Reviews

[mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

my heart cracked open and an ocean flooded out. i don’t have any other words for it.

[Samhita* · Rating 5 out of 5]

a pretty, multi-modal memoir that weaves in misogyny, climate change, addiction, religion in poems and texts and photos

i do not know how to judge memoirs without feeling like it’s a reflection of someone’s life but on the technical side, i wish the end has been more preempted but whatever! very beautiful still

[thebookybird · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t go through #nonfictionnovember without grabbing from my small and humble pile of memoirs and Women Surrounded by Water was a mighty read in only 125 pages.

I am ashamed to say this is the first real glimpse into Puerto Rican culture and identity I’ve read but it was deeply impactful and I am looking to learn and find more.

This story was stunning, poetic in its prose, melancholy and hopeful in tone. Coral lets us in on her own internal turmoils, discoveries and what it means to have home and find home, I loved her journey and I loved her passion for her people and a place with such complexity.

Honest and deeply raw this was such an intimate read that can be consumed in one sitting.

[ari ⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a beautiful work of art that felt like someone inviting me in for a cup of coffee on a cold day.

Thank you for sharing your story 🖤

[Leita Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful. wowie my heart ;_; made me cry

[Cristina Villarreal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book at a bookstore while traveling. It was destiny. It was the book I didn’t know I needed. It is so beautifully written that it spoke directly to my soul. It is the best book I read this year!

[Natalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

"If I had to talk about who I am or how I've become, or where do I come from, I would have to split the story in two and probably stay in between as an observer, as an outsider to my own life. I've had two lives and now also two languages. Sometimes I forget in which one I exist.... I'm the one in-between sizes, in-between categories, sometimes I don't know whether I should shrink or expand."

As a Puerto Rican who moved to the mainland during my formative years, I've struggled a lot with my identity. I was away from the Island during Hurricane Maria and faced all the expectations and pressures that came with being the eldest daughter in a Hispanic family. Just because we don't live on the beautiful Island anymore doesn't mean we don't hurt for it or carry the culture within us.

This book was so beautiful and poetic, yet I find it hard to describe how deeply it resonated with me. I relate to the grief deeply, yet at the same time, I feel I don't relate enough.

Here are some moments that touched my soul:

- "Ay Turulete" – My mom used to sing that to me as a baby.
- Remembering that grandma's purple banister was all that was left of my mother's childhood home, and finding out through the news.
- The passage "La Isla" on page 66 will be framed on my wall. It's so powerful: "You have to unlearn that you can't make it by yourself... The Island can't make it by itself. You are a woman, you are an island."
- "No lo dejes solo" – Reminded me of my mom's behavior when she saw the dynamics of me and my partner in our home. Our relationship made her uncomfortable because our dynamics were balanced.
- On page 123: "I was born a puzzle to be dismantled and reassembled. I've been practicing my whole life. Learning where the pieces fit and sticking myself together. Each time a little faster."
- Page 125: The matriarchs.

Telling my mom I’m getting this book for her because so much of this book is her life experience was a profound moment. A life that she overcame, the expectations she ignored to be happy. so I wouldn't be crushed under the weight of them.

Inhale:
Lord, I am Miserable.
Exhale:
Like the women of my life were miserable.

Thanks to my mom and the women before us, we're paving our own paths.

[Mariana González · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 estrellas.

Llegué a Patricia Coral por mi querida amiga Anjanette Delgado. Le dije a Anja que quiero conocer más y más autoras puertorriqueñas, y me recomendó a Patricia Coral.

La escritura de Patricia es preciosa: cuidada, filosa cuando quiere serlo, llena de imágenes bien escogidas. Es de esas prosas bien pensadas y sentidas. Como gusto muy personal, no conecté con la estructura alternativa. A mí me gustan las memorias densas, de esas que se hunden y te arrastran con peso. Pero esto es puro gusto mío. Lo que sí es innegable es el talento narrativo. Leería más de Patricia Coral, así que por acá quedo bien pendiente a su obra.

Como un dato, me parece que este es el primer libro publicado de Patricia Coral, y qué bonita está la edición que hizo Mad Creek Books (esta memoria pertenece a la serie "machete").

[Dahlma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patricia Coral has opened a door and invited us in to her heart, mind and memory. She guides us through many corridors of her life. Sometimes the memoir is impossibly intimate and revealing. Always it is amazingly honest and wonderfully well-written. This is the story of one Puerto Rican woman's struggle to go beyond the traditional, the expected, to find self-actualization; a story of going beyond the restrictions of the known to the uncertainties of the unknown; a story of leaving and being left. This book, although concise, is a deep dive into the search for self-fulfillment. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

[Cathleen (Woven From Words) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Ohio State Press for the gifted copy of 'Women Surrounded by Water' by Patricia Coral.
This memoir is written in stunning prose. Patricia Coral opens up her soul to us and shares the journey and struggles the women in her life endured in Puerto Rico. Coral's story is equally heartbreaking and stunning. She also shares about Hurricane Maria and its chaotic aftermath. Myself being Puerto Rican, this brought back memories of me waiting for hear from relatives and dear friends who lived on the island.

This book is an emotional and powerful work of the written word, and I finished it in one sitting. Just an amazing story!

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Women carry so much and they are so strong. So much sadness, so much love, and so much hope in so few pages. This is a beautifully written look at family and place and how they shape you.

"I still liked to hear your voice on your favourite holiday."

I picked this up on holiday when the sky was absolutely chucking it down and I ran into a bookstore for shelter. I felt bad waiting out the rain and not purchasing anything so I grabbed this on a whim and I am so glad I did.

[Connie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do not waste your money on this book! My book group chose it for our April read. I’m thankful that it was a very short book! A memoir by a Puerto-Rican woman that is partially in Spanish with no translation, partial poetry and very poor poetry! Our combined rating on a 1-10 range was a 6!
That tells it all.
NOT recommended!

[Victoria Aldea · Rating 5 out of 5]

A one-sitting type of devourable. A mix of prose and poetry covering topics like marriage/divorce, addiction, natural disasters, Caribbean diaspora, family history all in 124 pages. Easily one of my faves of 2025 already.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful memoir. Loved the creative form of mini narratives and poetic descriptions of multiple generations of the women in her family as well as her own experience. It is also a memoir about Puerto Rico as if the country too is one of the women in her family. Really beautiful and powerful.

[ProsePotts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patricia Coral's beautiful language and vulnerability is a gift to us all

[Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

It reminded me of one of my all time favorites In The Dream House. Poetically written, raw, real

[Sorayya Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Memoir as poetry or poetry as memoir. Either way, a beautiful book!

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting format with poems, short narratives, and brief commentaries.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful writing style that captured my attention from the first page to the last. It was a quick read and I wish I had taken more time to enjoy it.

[Kate H · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Can you take a picture of a soul breaking?"

[Yuqi · Rating 5 out of 5]

a beautiful memoir written in poems. raw in emotion and moving like the ocean. by that I mean big big emotions and devastating crashing waves. but always beautiful.