Hola and Goodbye: Una Familia in Stories

by Donna Miscolta

In 1920s Southern California, Lupita Camacho leaves Mexico and settles not far from the border―and so begins the journey of an American family told by a chain of tales stretching across three generations. Early stories track Lupita’s concessions to the demands of her new country and her new fish cannery job overseen by a lecherous boss who makes sure Lupita, her friend Rosa, and their Chinese coworkers work long, hard, and, for the most part, in silence, since speaking any language but English is forbidden. The family’s first-generation Americans populate later stories as they work toward assimilation, complete with kidney-shaped inground pools, even though their homes and children never quite match those in the pages of Ladies Home Journal. Finally, distanced from the culture of their ancestors and freed from the stigma of accented English, Lupita’s grandchildren live lives that are as wide-open as America: hosting karaoke nights, becoming female wrestlers, arriving at high school reunions utterly transformed. However, these modern-day family members discover that despite their freedom, they somehow remain set apart. In a time when the word “immigrant” has become politically charged and sometimes stripped of its earlier sense of dignity, these exquisitely human stories provide welcome restoration. In Hola and Goodbye, Donna Miscolta’s altogether fascinating and flawed characters face progress and failure against the backdrop of each new generation―bound together, and to us all, by the search for a place in this world.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Latinx

286 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This will always be the first book I was able to read and finish after the 2016 Presidential Election. Those first days I couldn't distract myself with anything. On Saturday, November 12th I went to the book launch at Elliott Bay and was able to sit alone, but among other writers who I knew were also in shock. Yet the musician's chant in Spanish and then English helped, from the revolution in Chile...'the people united, will never be defeated.'
With that I went home and started reading Hola and Goodbye. How perfect that it was through stories that I started to be able to sleep again at night. These stories could all stand on their own but weave and even stronger whole, these Four Women and Strong Girls. These interwoven lives through the generations. The stories are too honest to always be of comfort, so when there is triumph over pain it's all the more rewarding, as in Sunday Dinner. An important work.

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting, though uneven, collection of stories about three generations of Hispanic women (and some of their friends) in California. It begins with the grandmother, Lupita, who works in a factory with her best friend and barely speaks English, and whose children are quickly leaving her behind. After setting up the stories of Lupita and her friends, it moves on to her children, and then quickly to the grandchildren, who dominate most of the book.

The first part, about Lupita and her friends, is quite strong, though the protagonists aren’t always the nicest people: they tend to use their husbands, dislike their kids, and obsessively remind the reader that fat people are fat. The rest of the book continues these trends, but in stories that I generally found less interesting. The children’s generation comes across as quite shallow, while several of the grandchildren’s stories didn’t ring true to me. After the first quarter of the collection, the only standouts for me were “Lovely Evelina,” about a transgender woman attending her 25-year high school reunion among people who only ever knew her as a boy, and perhaps “Sunday Dinner,” the last story, about Lupita’s old age. Meanwhile several stories feature Julia, the apparent author avatar of the collection, whose stories don’t really do much. There are also some continuity errors.

So while this isn’t a terrible collection, and I like the idea of telling a multigenerational tale through short stories, it’s also not one that stood out for me or that I’m inclined to recommend.

[Kim Fay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reviewed this beautiful short story collection, HOLA & GOODBYE, for the "Los Angeles Review of Books." https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/b...

[Allison Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

A set of linked stories, almost feels like reading a novel. Vivid characters; at turns funny, sweet, sad. Miscolta has a wry sense of humor and a gift for the perfectly rendered image.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donna Miscolta's collection of loosely linked stories is a page turner in the best sense: I wanted to keep reading because I cared about these characters; because Miscolta's deft writing drew me into their world and made me want to stay there. I love books in which complex family relationships are interwoven throughout and characters in one story are related, by blood or friendship, to characters in another--much like Elizabeth Strout's recent book, Abide with Me, which is similarly riveting. And as in Strout's book, the world of Hola and Goodbye is a microcosm of American history and culture: in this case, a San Diego suburb mostly populated by mid-20th-century Mexican immigrants and their children and grandchildren.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was just a wonderful, unexpected surprise. Through loosely connected stories, Hola and Goodbye follows the lives of Lupita Camacho, a recent immigrant from Mexico, and her extended family as they settle in Southern California. They're just short slice of life stories, but they were so satisfying in their simplicity. I loved that it started with Lupita, who struggled with English after arriving in America, and came full circle at the end with her English only speaking granddaughter struggling with Spanish in her language program in Mexico. The stories in between are wonderful as well. Highly recommended.

[Sandra Lopez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Described as “una familia in stories,” these reflect the lives of four women yearning to get by and aspire for a better life. Lupita, Rosa, Ana, and Irma—each with their own struggles and ruminations.

This carried a poetic feel that’s often reflective and somber. With a languid pace, tales are a beacon to the prose of serious women’s fiction. It wasn’t as humorous as I would’ve liked it to be, although there were some Spanish catchphrases dispersed throughout that may give a chuckle. It was mostly about immigration and settling into a new culture.

Stories, for the most part, were well-written and endearing.

[Margaret Hoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

These linked stories covering three generations of an American family whose matriarch immigrated from Mexico, were enlightening. Following the evolution of these generations held joys and sorrows. It must be difficult for the first generation of immigrants to watch their home language and customs be summarily dismissed or forgotten by each subsequent generation. Is it wrong? Probably not. But painful. And somehow incomplete. Stories and histories get buried. Languages get unlearned; and this might be the toughest loss of all. Something gets missed in translation to this “new world”. Something big. Something important.

[Sayantani Dasgupta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it must be to imagine and write a novel in the form of interlinked stories. Miscolta pulls it off, seemingly effortlessly. At the heart of the novel is Lupita, the matriarch of the Camacho clan. Her best friend is Rosa, by far one of the most interesting characters ever in fiction. My favorite story, however, might be Lovely Evelina. The tension in this piece is dialed up high. This book also has one of the best last lines ever. I’d, however, have liked this novel to have a family tree and a stronger sense of Lupita in all the stories/chapters.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short stories that reads like a novel. The books centers around two friends, Lupita and Rosa, immigrants from Mexico living in Los Angeles. Most stories are told from different points of view but all from Lupita's and Rosa's extended families, down to their grandchildren. Each story has a unique focus and would be good for reading groups. I am not really a fan of short story collections but this one had my attention from beginning to end. Great storytelling.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of inter-connected short stories examining the experiences of Mexican-American immigrants, following families through the generations. Interesting to see how peoples' lives change as they live in this country longer. Short stories -- snapshots -- are a wonderful way to illustrate this.

[Cennamonudi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE YOU BOOK

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hola and Goodbye is a collection of short stories that connect a family in time, from the first immigrants from Mexico to the USA to a more current generation. I really enjoyed this book; not only did I like the characters, but it gave me insight into the immigration experience and how values and approaches change as the generations become more integrated into American life—in fact, one of the grandchildren goes back to Mexico and has a hard time figuring out how to get around. The last story ends with a family dinner and which brings everyone together, demonstrating the love and continuity that holds the family together despite their differences. One word of advice—be sure to write down the names of the family members. Because this is short stories, I took my time to read this and lost track of which grandchild went with which parent.

[Dana Gale · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Hola and Goodbye" is a beautiful and moving collection of stories. Each of the characters is unique, fully-realized, and three-dimensional. Miscolta's prose is graceful and fluid. She writes with great love, insight, and humor about three generations of a Mexican-American family trying to come to terms with questions of cultural allegiance, personal identity, friendship, loyalty, assimilation, dreams, and disappointments. Once you start, you won't be able to put this book down --the characters are too captivating. You will come to love the Camacho family, with all their human quirks and foibles, like your own.

[Andrew Shutes-David · Rating 4 out of 5]

SUMMARY: Mestizos don't get what they dream of.

WARNINGS FOR KIDS: One ambiguous rape.

(3.75*s)