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Soledad
Award-winning author Angie Cruz takes readers on a journey as one young woman must confront not only her own past of growing up in Washington Heights, but also her mother's.
At eighteen, Soledad couldn't get away fast enough from her contentious family with their endless tragedies and petty fights. Two years later, she's an art student at Cooper Union with a gallery job and a hip East Village walk-up. But when Tía Gorda calls with the news that Soledad's mother has lapsed into an emotional coma, she insists that Soledad's return is the only cure. Fighting the memories of open hydrants, leering men, and slick-skinned teen girls with raunchy mouths and snapping gum, Soledad moves home to West 164th Street. As she tries to tame her cousin Flaca's raucous behavior and to resist falling for Richie—a soulful, intense man from the neighborhood—she also faces the greatest challenge of her confronting the ghosts from her mother's past and salvaging their damaged relationship.
Evocative and wise, Soledad is a wondrous story of culture and chaos, family and integrity, myth and mysticism, from a Latina literary light.
At eighteen, Soledad couldn't get away fast enough from her contentious family with their endless tragedies and petty fights. Two years later, she's an art student at Cooper Union with a gallery job and a hip East Village walk-up. But when Tía Gorda calls with the news that Soledad's mother has lapsed into an emotional coma, she insists that Soledad's return is the only cure. Fighting the memories of open hydrants, leering men, and slick-skinned teen girls with raunchy mouths and snapping gum, Soledad moves home to West 164th Street. As she tries to tame her cousin Flaca's raucous behavior and to resist falling for Richie—a soulful, intense man from the neighborhood—she also faces the greatest challenge of her confronting the ghosts from her mother's past and salvaging their damaged relationship.
Evocative and wise, Soledad is a wondrous story of culture and chaos, family and integrity, myth and mysticism, from a Latina literary light.
240 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2001
117 people are currently reading
2838 people want to read
About the author
Angie Cruz
25 books1,168 followersAngie Cruz was conceived in Dominican Republic and born in 1972 in New York City's Washington Heights. She continued to travel to and from, every summer, until she was sixteen years old. She went to La Guardia High School concentrating on Visual Arts and by default decided to follow a path in Fashion Design at Fashion Institute of Technology. During those four years of college, she worked as a salesperson, manager and then window designer in an upscale Madison Ave. boutique. In 1993, four of her children stories were featured on BET's Story Porch. Soon after, she gave up her fashionista lifestyle to become a full-time college student at SUNY Binghamton where her love affair with literature and history began. She graduated from the NYU, MFA program in 1999. Her passion for literature fueled her desire to be active in community. In 1997, she co-founded WILL: Women In Literature & Letters with Adelina Anthony and Marta Lucia, an organization that produced readings, workshops, and a conference using literature as a tool to build community and transform society. In 2000, WILL was put on hold due to lack of resources and the women's desire to make more time to write. Angie Cruz has contributed shorter works to numerous periodicals including Latina Magazine, Callaloo and New York Times. She has won awards for her writing and/or activist work such as The New York Foundation of The Arts Fellowship, Barbara Deming Award, Yaddo, and The Camargo Fellowship. She published two novels, Soledad and Let It Rain Coffee. She currently is working on the screenplay for Soledad, optioned by Nueva York Productions and working on her third novel.
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January 29, 2023
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What could have been a polyphonic tragicomedy exploring trauma, abusive and dysfunctional relationships, generational and cultural divides, sex, love, and desire, is let down by a cast of cartoonish characters, repetitive dialogues and interactions, and a rambling plot. The novel’s opening is certainly intriguing as we follow 20-year-old Soledad returning to the neighborhood she grew up in, Washington Heights, which she left two years prior to work at an art gallery and rebrand herself in the East Village. Her past however catches up with her when Soledad learns from her Tía Gorda that her mother, Olivia, has slipped into a deep trance that leaves her unresponsive to the ‘real’ world. Soledad hates her neighborhood, she feels burdened by her familial duties, by the rhythms of Washington Heights, and longs to leave. But she stays, despite her love-hate relationship with her mother.
The novel switches constantly povs, so we get sections centered on Tía Gorda, who resents her sister’s closeness to her own daughter, Flaca, her mother and Soledad’s grandmother, Doña Sosa, who for years has been her husband’s caretaker, Soledad’s uncle Victor, a machista who doesn’t want to ‘settle down’ and has a reputation for breaking hearts, Flaca, a fourteen-year-old who is portrayed as ‘promiscuous’ and ‘bratty’, and Soledad’s mother, Oliviam who watches over the people who are coming and going in her apartment but is unable to wake from her mysterious malady. Now, I liked the premise, and while I don’t usually love books that have no quotation marks and constantly switch povs I was curious to see how this tale of a dysfunctional family would unfold, especially given that it is rooted in magical realism. Also, a week or so before reading Soledad I'd read and loved Louise Erdrich's LaRose, which also features no quotations marks, multiple perspectives, dysfunctional families, fraught mother-daughter relationships, a 'troubled' young girl coming of age, and magical realism....so I actually had a good feeling about Soledad.
My oh my….this novel was all over the place. While I usually prefer books that are less about plot than character development or even books that are more interested in giving us a ‘slice of life’ type of presenting us with some epic saga, Soledad just comes across as an inchoate mess that fails to bring closure or meaning to its storylines. There were so many dynamics and scenarios that are poorly addressed/portrayed or seemingly forgotten about. It did not help that despite the different voices, many of them, regardless if from a 1st or 3rd pov, sounded much like the same person. There was also a lot of repetition. The novel tries to underline over and over again just how fraught, with old and new resentments, and lingering traumas, the bonds between these women are, but it does so in an ultimately very over-the-top fashion. There is no subtlety, no layers. Even statements that seem to suggest a more nuanced understanding of the complicated nature of mother-daughter relationships ultimately felt like weak platitudes about generational differences (that gave me strong 'young people today tsk tsk' vibes) and misunderstandings (borne out of wanting to protect someone you love or preventing them from repeating your mistakes).
The fragments we get focusing on Soledad’s older relatives do not make for fully fleshed characters or vividly rendered circumstances. This is a pity as I do think that the novel had the potential of exploring sexual desire in older women, but these snippets seem to paint Soledad’s relatives as rather one-note ‘hysterical’ women (because of course women who emote have to be portrayed as ‘strident’ and ‘irrational’). Soledad is meant to be a sympathetic character, the central piece to this disruptive family portrait, but she just seemed painfully vanilla. Rather than challenging her view/understanding of her neighborhood, her Dominican-American community, her family, the novel makes her change of heart a result of a super seductive guy, Richie, who gives some serious pick-up artist vibes but in reality he is actually a Good Guy, two scoops of trauma for plot reasons, and a good ol’ dose of filial guilt. I did not like her, sure, but it frustrated me that the novel pinned so much on her when it came to Olivia's condition and their strained relationship. I found that scene with her sassy, wise, and cool lesbian friend (who is largely forgotten after said scene) to be queer-baiting. Maybe if the novel had explored her attraction to her or dedicated more time to their friendship or explored her sexuality, maybe then it would have not stood out as at best shallow, at worst ‘sensationalistic’.
The worst character was Flaca. Sadly, time and again I have come across this type of adult-authored teenage girl. I don’t need every problematic or troubling thing that appears in a novel to be challenged, far from it, but I just could not put up with how the narrative makes Flaca, basically a child, into a ridiculous joke. Her antics, from acting ‘tough’ to her pursuit of this bloody Richie, her childish responses to her mother and Soledad, everything about her is meant to paint her as a bratty, self-obsessed, disobedient, rude, mean, manipulative, vindictive, stupid, man-crazed adolescent. Her mother tries to instil some sense of duty in her or to make her obey her rules but Flaca doesn’t care. She comforts to society's idea of a teenage girl, someone who is disrespectful (especially towards her long-suffering mother), and who 'puts herself' in danger or 'objectifies herself'... rather than criticizing how patriarchal societies & androcentric cultures sexualize young girls or exploring the harmful power dynamics between an adult man and a teenage girl (she may feel validated/flattered by an adult seeing her and treating her like she is a grownup, that she is special, desirable, etc), it just paints Flaca as 'silly', 'childish', 'promiscuous'. Gorda and Flaca's scenes basically see them fighting, verbally and physically, and that's that. Flaca, we are led to believe, loves her Tía Olivia, but I did not buy it as we are meant to believe that her antics would not be a problem for her Tía?! The worst thing is how Soledad doesn’t worry when she learns that Flaca is interested in Richie and is in fact slightly jealous…WTF. She even tells Richie that "It's not like I care if you are [after Flaca] or anything. You can do what ever you want" …is she forgetting that he is a grown-ass man and that her cousin is 14? Soledad, ragazza mia, you don't have to like your annoying cousin who clearly hates you but how can she tell this guy that he can do 'whatever' and go 'after' a 14-year-old???? And she seems to be reassured by his response: "It's not like I'm all that. It's more like Flaca is a minor and I ain't going there." Which is not at all fucking reassuring because what is preventing him from "going after" Flaca is not that "that would be gross she is a child" but that she is "minor", the law is against, you know, going with a minor, so he is not going to go there. He claims that he is not giving Flaca any ideas but he constantly is, calling her his "favorite girl" and telling her that she doesn't like when she wears "revealing" clothes because "I don't like my favorite girl going around like that. You too classy for that shit". If he really understood and was concerned for her wellbeing he wouldn’t say shit that Flaca, in her impressionable ‘according-to-this-adult-writer-teen-girls-are-stupid’ brain, can warp into meaning that "he wants me/he is being possessive/he thinks I'm classy". Later on, she starts hooking up with a friend of Richie, to get him jealous. The guy is really pushy and pressures her into becoming physical with him (pretty sure he is also a grown-ass man...disgusting). Flaca then spends all of her time whining about Soledad for 'stealing' Richie and even messes with Soledad's stuff. Towards the end she asks Richie why he calls her classy but doesn't "do anything about it" to which he replies "be careful what you wish for"...
Btw, all of the men are some shade of vile, stupid, and/or sexist. Richie, supposedly a good guy, is just as sleazy and the way he behaves and talks about Flaca...yikes. Victor has a sudden change of heart from his fuckboi ways that feels contrived and as if exonerating of his earlier behavior...Victor, upon coming across a naked Olivia, fears that "his dick [will find out] there's a potential place for it, it will pop up" and that "he's had that feeling before, where he doesn't care who the person is […] he just wants to fuck" so he has to remind himself that Olivia is "not a woman but his sister".
There was so much yuckiness. The sex scenes either made me roll my eyes or triggered my gag reflex, the story deals with heavy themes (like sexual and physical abuse, abusive relationship, child abuse, misogyny) either flippantly or garishly. I also could not forgive this novel for its hatred and misunderstanding of teen girls and its lack of genuine female solidarity (for instance between flaca and solidad).
I excepted a lot more, but I found Soledad offensive, simplistic, and repetitive. The exploration of sexuality, complex family dynamics, guilt and forgiveness, trauma and healing, often felt cut short, by a pov switch or yet another fight or ridiculously horny line. The magical realism element also troubled me as I found an aspect of it moralistic (it has to do with olivia's past).
Despite all of these issues, I do think that Angie Cruz is (in theory) a good storyteller. She has an ear for language, and while sadly her prose ventures down cliched avenues, there are instances, especially when it comes to describing her characters’ environments, tracking their frenzied thoughts, and in the dialogues (when the characters are not fighting) when she is able to be both blunt and lyrical. Because of this, I actually plan on trying something else of hers.
Just because this novel wasn’t for me should not stop you from giving it a go, YMMV and all that.
“Could it be that that’s just the way things go between people? Irreconcilable differences, which can’t really be explained or solved.”
What could have been a polyphonic tragicomedy exploring trauma, abusive and dysfunctional relationships, generational and cultural divides, sex, love, and desire, is let down by a cast of cartoonish characters, repetitive dialogues and interactions, and a rambling plot. The novel’s opening is certainly intriguing as we follow 20-year-old Soledad returning to the neighborhood she grew up in, Washington Heights, which she left two years prior to work at an art gallery and rebrand herself in the East Village. Her past however catches up with her when Soledad learns from her Tía Gorda that her mother, Olivia, has slipped into a deep trance that leaves her unresponsive to the ‘real’ world. Soledad hates her neighborhood, she feels burdened by her familial duties, by the rhythms of Washington Heights, and longs to leave. But she stays, despite her love-hate relationship with her mother.
“My name means loneliness in Spanish, the language my mother speaks and dreams in. She said this name would open people’s hearts to me and make them listen. She thought with a name like Soledad I would never be alone.”
The novel switches constantly povs, so we get sections centered on Tía Gorda, who resents her sister’s closeness to her own daughter, Flaca, her mother and Soledad’s grandmother, Doña Sosa, who for years has been her husband’s caretaker, Soledad’s uncle Victor, a machista who doesn’t want to ‘settle down’ and has a reputation for breaking hearts, Flaca, a fourteen-year-old who is portrayed as ‘promiscuous’ and ‘bratty’, and Soledad’s mother, Oliviam who watches over the people who are coming and going in her apartment but is unable to wake from her mysterious malady. Now, I liked the premise, and while I don’t usually love books that have no quotation marks and constantly switch povs I was curious to see how this tale of a dysfunctional family would unfold, especially given that it is rooted in magical realism. Also, a week or so before reading Soledad I'd read and loved Louise Erdrich's LaRose, which also features no quotations marks, multiple perspectives, dysfunctional families, fraught mother-daughter relationships, a 'troubled' young girl coming of age, and magical realism....so I actually had a good feeling about Soledad.
“We just worry about her fate, like people worry about the hole in the ozone; not doing anything to stop the disaster but seeing it looming in the future. ”
My oh my….this novel was all over the place. While I usually prefer books that are less about plot than character development or even books that are more interested in giving us a ‘slice of life’ type of presenting us with some epic saga, Soledad just comes across as an inchoate mess that fails to bring closure or meaning to its storylines. There were so many dynamics and scenarios that are poorly addressed/portrayed or seemingly forgotten about. It did not help that despite the different voices, many of them, regardless if from a 1st or 3rd pov, sounded much like the same person. There was also a lot of repetition. The novel tries to underline over and over again just how fraught, with old and new resentments, and lingering traumas, the bonds between these women are, but it does so in an ultimately very over-the-top fashion. There is no subtlety, no layers. Even statements that seem to suggest a more nuanced understanding of the complicated nature of mother-daughter relationships ultimately felt like weak platitudes about generational differences (that gave me strong 'young people today tsk tsk' vibes) and misunderstandings (borne out of wanting to protect someone you love or preventing them from repeating your mistakes).
“My grandmother is split between ideas, countries, her dreams and what’s real.”
The fragments we get focusing on Soledad’s older relatives do not make for fully fleshed characters or vividly rendered circumstances. This is a pity as I do think that the novel had the potential of exploring sexual desire in older women, but these snippets seem to paint Soledad’s relatives as rather one-note ‘hysterical’ women (because of course women who emote have to be portrayed as ‘strident’ and ‘irrational’). Soledad is meant to be a sympathetic character, the central piece to this disruptive family portrait, but she just seemed painfully vanilla. Rather than challenging her view/understanding of her neighborhood, her Dominican-American community, her family, the novel makes her change of heart a result of a super seductive guy, Richie, who gives some serious pick-up artist vibes but in reality he is actually a Good Guy, two scoops of trauma for plot reasons, and a good ol’ dose of filial guilt. I did not like her, sure, but it frustrated me that the novel pinned so much on her when it came to Olivia's condition and their strained relationship. I found that scene with her sassy, wise, and cool lesbian friend (who is largely forgotten after said scene) to be queer-baiting. Maybe if the novel had explored her attraction to her or dedicated more time to their friendship or explored her sexuality, maybe then it would have not stood out as at best shallow, at worst ‘sensationalistic’.
The worst character was Flaca. Sadly, time and again I have come across this type of adult-authored teenage girl. I don’t need every problematic or troubling thing that appears in a novel to be challenged, far from it, but I just could not put up with how the narrative makes Flaca, basically a child, into a ridiculous joke. Her antics, from acting ‘tough’ to her pursuit of this bloody Richie, her childish responses to her mother and Soledad, everything about her is meant to paint her as a bratty, self-obsessed, disobedient, rude, mean, manipulative, vindictive, stupid, man-crazed adolescent. Her mother tries to instil some sense of duty in her or to make her obey her rules but Flaca doesn’t care. She comforts to society's idea of a teenage girl, someone who is disrespectful (especially towards her long-suffering mother), and who 'puts herself' in danger or 'objectifies herself'... rather than criticizing how patriarchal societies & androcentric cultures sexualize young girls or exploring the harmful power dynamics between an adult man and a teenage girl (she may feel validated/flattered by an adult seeing her and treating her like she is a grownup, that she is special, desirable, etc), it just paints Flaca as 'silly', 'childish', 'promiscuous'. Gorda and Flaca's scenes basically see them fighting, verbally and physically, and that's that. Flaca, we are led to believe, loves her Tía Olivia, but I did not buy it as we are meant to believe that her antics would not be a problem for her Tía?! The worst thing is how Soledad doesn’t worry when she learns that Flaca is interested in Richie and is in fact slightly jealous…WTF. She even tells Richie that "It's not like I care if you are [after Flaca] or anything. You can do what ever you want" …is she forgetting that he is a grown-ass man and that her cousin is 14? Soledad, ragazza mia, you don't have to like your annoying cousin who clearly hates you but how can she tell this guy that he can do 'whatever' and go 'after' a 14-year-old???? And she seems to be reassured by his response: "It's not like I'm all that. It's more like Flaca is a minor and I ain't going there." Which is not at all fucking reassuring because what is preventing him from "going after" Flaca is not that "that would be gross she is a child" but that she is "minor", the law is against, you know, going with a minor, so he is not going to go there. He claims that he is not giving Flaca any ideas but he constantly is, calling her his "favorite girl" and telling her that she doesn't like when she wears "revealing" clothes because "I don't like my favorite girl going around like that. You too classy for that shit". If he really understood and was concerned for her wellbeing he wouldn’t say shit that Flaca, in her impressionable ‘according-to-this-adult-writer-teen-girls-are-stupid’ brain, can warp into meaning that "he wants me/he is being possessive/he thinks I'm classy". Later on, she starts hooking up with a friend of Richie, to get him jealous. The guy is really pushy and pressures her into becoming physical with him (pretty sure he is also a grown-ass man...disgusting). Flaca then spends all of her time whining about Soledad for 'stealing' Richie and even messes with Soledad's stuff. Towards the end she asks Richie why he calls her classy but doesn't "do anything about it" to which he replies "be careful what you wish for"...
Btw, all of the men are some shade of vile, stupid, and/or sexist. Richie, supposedly a good guy, is just as sleazy and the way he behaves and talks about Flaca...yikes. Victor has a sudden change of heart from his fuckboi ways that feels contrived and as if exonerating of his earlier behavior...Victor, upon coming across a naked Olivia, fears that "his dick [will find out] there's a potential place for it, it will pop up" and that "he's had that feeling before, where he doesn't care who the person is […] he just wants to fuck" so he has to remind himself that Olivia is "not a woman but his sister".
There was so much yuckiness. The sex scenes either made me roll my eyes or triggered my gag reflex, the story deals with heavy themes (like sexual and physical abuse, abusive relationship, child abuse, misogyny) either flippantly or garishly. I also could not forgive this novel for its hatred and misunderstanding of teen girls and its lack of genuine female solidarity (for instance between flaca and solidad).
I excepted a lot more, but I found Soledad offensive, simplistic, and repetitive. The exploration of sexuality, complex family dynamics, guilt and forgiveness, trauma and healing, often felt cut short, by a pov switch or yet another fight or ridiculously horny line. The magical realism element also troubled me as I found an aspect of it moralistic (it has to do with olivia's past).
Despite all of these issues, I do think that Angie Cruz is (in theory) a good storyteller. She has an ear for language, and while sadly her prose ventures down cliched avenues, there are instances, especially when it comes to describing her characters’ environments, tracking their frenzied thoughts, and in the dialogues (when the characters are not fighting) when she is able to be both blunt and lyrical. Because of this, I actually plan on trying something else of hers.
Just because this novel wasn’t for me should not stop you from giving it a go, YMMV and all that.
January 21, 2020
Edit: I have re-read and taught this book many times in the nine years since I wrote the review below and upon reflection I think I am wrong about this book and it is better than I gave it credit for. . . Maybe one day I will re-write this review, but for now I think it can be safely ignored and I pumped it up by one star.
My biggest beef with this book is not so much the book itself, but the pull-quotes and excerpts from reviews - all of which seem to hone in on the "magical realist" aspects of the narrative, when really there is really only one scene that can be called "magical realist" and it is near the end and kind of heavy-handed and doesn't really add much to the book at all. It feels like since Angie Cruz is a Latina writer then her work has to be categorized that way in order to put it in the neighborhood of the only Latino writer anyone ever really takes seriously (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, maybe Borges, sometimes).
But still this complaint is misleading, because I wish it were a little more free in its depiction of reality, a little more willing to play with time. I kind of wish the book was more from Flaca's point of view instead of Soledad. . .
So much of this genre of writing seems to be about reconnecting with and learning about a past our parents' generation would rather forget but is nevertheless burdened with - the awful shit that drove them out of the D.R. or P.R. or other places in Latin America and that their over-protective irrational demeanor is meant to help us avoid. . . I get that, and I think its an important topic to explore and there are moments in this novel where the contradictions of family and the ties of blood we imagine are depicted eloquently. . . I just wanted. . . I don't know. . . more.
My biggest beef with this book is not so much the book itself, but the pull-quotes and excerpts from reviews - all of which seem to hone in on the "magical realist" aspects of the narrative, when really there is really only one scene that can be called "magical realist" and it is near the end and kind of heavy-handed and doesn't really add much to the book at all. It feels like since Angie Cruz is a Latina writer then her work has to be categorized that way in order to put it in the neighborhood of the only Latino writer anyone ever really takes seriously (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, maybe Borges, sometimes).
But still this complaint is misleading, because I wish it were a little more free in its depiction of reality, a little more willing to play with time. I kind of wish the book was more from Flaca's point of view instead of Soledad. . .
So much of this genre of writing seems to be about reconnecting with and learning about a past our parents' generation would rather forget but is nevertheless burdened with - the awful shit that drove them out of the D.R. or P.R. or other places in Latin America and that their over-protective irrational demeanor is meant to help us avoid. . . I get that, and I think its an important topic to explore and there are moments in this novel where the contradictions of family and the ties of blood we imagine are depicted eloquently. . . I just wanted. . . I don't know. . . more.
December 2, 2019
I has taken me months to finish this novel as I simply couldn't get past the language, half English, half Spanish without the benefit of any translation, and the fact that none of the characters appear to be believable or even likable. As a Dominican who has spent lots of time in Washington Heights, I was hoping for a credible rendition of the area and its multi-ethnic air instead of limiting the scope to the building and apartment where the family lives.
March 13, 2020
In terms of interesting themes, this book was good. It dealt with interesting issues. I understood a lot of why some characters acted the way they did.
However, the lack of clear dialogue and the somewhat consuming storytelling really took me out of the novel. I didn't enjoy having to try to figure out who was talking and when. I also really didn't like some of the characters. In part, because I didnt understand them but also I think they weren't necessarily supposed to be likable? Flaca, for example, a self centered, immature 15 year old. Like logically, I understand she's 15 and therefore not going to be mature and think about other people but she really just doesn't care about anyone but herself? And I understand that Olivia is supposed to be redeemed of sorts by the end but I just don't feel anything for her. Her situation is and was terrible, but I still disagree with her parenting.
The magical realism was interesting, but I didn't understand the last scene in the DR. The photo thing. Like was that supposed to make everything okay again? I get that it was supposed to be like leaving that open for the future but parts of it just doesn't work for me.
I am also not Latinx so maybe I'm missing the cultural connection.
However, the lack of clear dialogue and the somewhat consuming storytelling really took me out of the novel. I didn't enjoy having to try to figure out who was talking and when. I also really didn't like some of the characters. In part, because I didnt understand them but also I think they weren't necessarily supposed to be likable? Flaca, for example, a self centered, immature 15 year old. Like logically, I understand she's 15 and therefore not going to be mature and think about other people but she really just doesn't care about anyone but herself? And I understand that Olivia is supposed to be redeemed of sorts by the end but I just don't feel anything for her. Her situation is and was terrible, but I still disagree with her parenting.
The magical realism was interesting, but I didn't understand the last scene in the DR. The photo thing. Like was that supposed to make everything okay again? I get that it was supposed to be like leaving that open for the future but parts of it just doesn't work for me.
I am also not Latinx so maybe I'm missing the cultural connection.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 16, 2019
read for senior sem:
THIS BOOK IS SOUL CRUSHING AND AFFIRMING ABOUT A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER UNDERSTANDING GENERATIONAL TRAUMA AND ALSO .... CULTURAL TRAUMA BY LIKE... LISTENING TO EACH OTHER
(a summary that does not do this book justice at all!!!)
when olivia screams at the end she breaks through generations and years of her own abuse because that is the moment that soledad needs her. even though the whole book is framed as soledad coming home to save olivia really olivia saves soledad !!!!!
THIS BOOK IS SOUL CRUSHING AND AFFIRMING ABOUT A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER UNDERSTANDING GENERATIONAL TRAUMA AND ALSO .... CULTURAL TRAUMA BY LIKE... LISTENING TO EACH OTHER
(a summary that does not do this book justice at all!!!)
when olivia screams at the end she breaks through generations and years of her own abuse because that is the moment that soledad needs her. even though the whole book is framed as soledad coming home to save olivia really olivia saves soledad !!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 8, 2018
Angie Cruz’s Soledad is a story that makes everyday life in Washington Heights magical. She began the novel by pulling me into her world with vivid details such as empty bottles of Presidente in the trash cans, the stinging “smell of onions and cilantro,” and merengue blaring out of cars on the street. I was immediately hooked. She continued to pull me in with her complex characters who are all just regular people trying to make the best out of their circumstances in life. The story revolves around four strong female characters Gorda, Flaca, Soledad, and Olivia and explores their relationships with each other, with the men in their lives, and their culture. The magical realism takes this relatable down-to-earth story and its characters to another level. This beautifully written novel has layers upon layers and is one that can and should be read over and over again.
December 12, 2014
What I find the most compelling part's of Angie Cruz's novel is not the prose or magical realist elements, but its extremely accurate caricature of NYC. The funniest and truest description of West Manhattan. I wouldn't describe it as magical realist so much as having a dream motif. The lyrical ending doesn't quite flow with the rest of the novel, but it doesn't spring up from nowhere.
A novel equally about sexuality as it is about hybridity, it's not the average second generation story. Soledad is likable, without becoming boring. Her mother is catatonic through the majority of the novel, yet their relationship becomes clear within the first few pages. The three generations of females' relationships mimic real family life. This makes the more hallucinatory elements of the novel believable when they arise.
Flaca, Soledad's firecracker cousin, steals the show though. Her parts, while mostly providing comedic lines, hold a lot of weight and really push this novel to true bildungsroman status.
The novel is better as a beach read though than a thought provoking text. Cruz's argument, if there even is one, is to basically learn how to communicate within the contexts of both romantic & familial love. The narrative itself is stronger, a quick, but bright read.
A novel equally about sexuality as it is about hybridity, it's not the average second generation story. Soledad is likable, without becoming boring. Her mother is catatonic through the majority of the novel, yet their relationship becomes clear within the first few pages. The three generations of females' relationships mimic real family life. This makes the more hallucinatory elements of the novel believable when they arise.
Flaca, Soledad's firecracker cousin, steals the show though. Her parts, while mostly providing comedic lines, hold a lot of weight and really push this novel to true bildungsroman status.
The novel is better as a beach read though than a thought provoking text. Cruz's argument, if there even is one, is to basically learn how to communicate within the contexts of both romantic & familial love. The narrative itself is stronger, a quick, but bright read.
September 22, 2019
Soleda represents so many parts of me and so many of the women I’ve known. Having been raised in such Dominican spaces, I thought I knew better and by better I figured that assimilation was the key here in America. Boy was I wrong, so was Soledad. As Cruz progresses in the narrative of this young woman escaping her best parts, not understanding that it is there that her best virtues and strengths are rooted, life’s reality check brings her to a place in time that meshes the past, the present, the experiences and aspirations of generations before her that leaves you winded! She takes the reader through a journey that cannot be predicted and digs deep into your own psyche where you cannot discern between what you’ve ingested and what you’ve lived. I was disappointed with a love story untold because I am a romantic at heart, and yet it is incredibly impactful how Cruz leaves you with the identification of Soledad as the problem (or her actions and perception of who she really is and where she comes from) and in turn leaves you questioning, me questioning, what is so powerful about myself, and my people, that scares me away from who I can be.
June 15, 2017
Angie Cruz tells a compelling authentic story about growing up in Washington Heights, NYC. Without shying away from the ugly truths of poverty, crime and drugs culture, Cruz shows a community that looks out for one another and shares a sense of solidarity. They are tight---like an extended family. Beautifully rendered. Cruz's strong female protagonist Soledad counterbalances Junot Diaz's male-centric protagonist Junior. I got the sense that Diaz glorified the male chauvinism of the Dominican culture while Cruz shows that Dominican women are not mere suffering saints. They are an independent force unto their own. The story and the characters were so strong that I can overlook the distracting switching from multiple first person narrations to third person with several POV's. The rebirth of Soledad into her mother's arms in the waters of the Tres Bocas Caves brought everything full-circle and was very moving.
February 2, 2015
I understood Soledad. You don't have to relate to the characters in order to understand Soledad, her family and their stuggles. The writing doesn't flow consistently, but the author kept me intrigued.
November 19, 2024
As posted on Zezee with Books.
My thoughts:
Have you ever read a story that mirrors your family so well that you feel as if the book was written for you? Such was my experience when reading Soledad. It wasn’t exactly the same as my life, but the characters and how the characters react to their situations were familiar.
Cruz had me at the first sentence and I find that weird. I knew from reading that sentence that I would enjoy the story and that I would find it hard to pull away from it for long. Why is that? How can some authors pull me in from so early in the story while others can’t? Is it a matter or style or voice? I’d really like to puzzle this out.
The narrator’s voice drew me into the story. The story is told in first-person but from multiple perspectives with Soledad as our protagonist. Soledad is a young, 20-something woman who has left home to seek freedom and space from her family. She is an artist and works part-time at a gallery. Her family are immigrants from Dominica Republic who settled in Washington Heights, a bad part of New York City, where Soledad has spent most of her life. When the story opens, Soledad is returning home to visit her ailing mother.
I could relate to Soledad in many ways. I could relate to her struggles as an immigrant, as the child of immigrants, and as a young woman developing ideals that conflict with what her family believe and enforce. I could relate to her frustration with having to live with family members who constantly pry into her life and refuse to acknowledge that she’s no longer a child, and I could relate to her skepticism about her family’s spiritual beliefs. When Soledad sees her mother, Olivia, she believes that Olivia is in need of medical help due to her semi-catatonic state. But Soledad’s grandmother and aunt assure her that Olivia is simply resolving some issues in her sleep. Soledad thinks they’re crazy.
In this way, Cruz includes elements of magical realism in her story. Olivia is indeed resolving issues in her sleep. She is haunted by her past and the magnitude of all she is dealing with seems so great that she has become speechless and near immobile at times. Ghosts from her past manifest in the present and cause trouble for both Olivia and her family members so her sister, Soledad’s aunt named Gorda, turns to her herbs to cleanse Olivia’s apartment of its bad spirits.
Spirits, bad juju, and the like are easily believed by Soledad’s family but Soledad fights against this at first as she battles with her cultures and identities, being both an American and a Dominican and living in America and thus influenced by American ideals but having a strong Dominican upbringing with family who still hold onto their Dominican beliefs. As the story progresses, Soledad learns more about herself, her parents, and origin and begins to accept herself for who she is and to feel comfortable being Soledad: an immigrant from Washington Heights with a family that some might call crazy.
I enjoyed watching all the characters develop. Though Soledad is the protagonist, the story focuses on all members of her family who are all affected and changed by what has happened to Soledad’s mother. I did not have a favorite character in this story because though I could relate to Soledad on many levels, I did not like her. I thought her too stuck-up, “stoosh” is the Jamaican slang, and though I understood why that is, I couldn’t shake my initial reaction to her. I did, however, like Ciego, a blind, wise old man who dishes out advice to everyone, and Soledad’s grandmother was pretty cool too because she reminded me of my own. However, Flaca, Soledad’s cousin, was an annoyance because of her immaturity but her character rang true to me for how girls her age sometimes behave.
Though I enjoyed the story, I was not a fan of the writing. It’s sometimes descriptive, which I liked, but other times the sentences threw me off and I can’t say what caused that. It wasn’t the inclusion of Spanish words, which adds authenticity to the story, I just don’t know why. Also, no quotation marks were included to indicate speech, which sometimes made me confused but I got by. I did not like the ending. It’s hard to say what happens. It’s pretty open-ended but to me, it seems that the story ended with storylines still hanging.
Overall: ★★★☆☆ 1/2
It’s a pretty good story and I recommend it if you’re looking for something short but good that focuses on family, relationships, and identity. I also recommend it if you’re looking for a “diverse read” recommendation or a story that includes magical realism. I enjoyed reading it and loved that I could easily see parts of my and my family’s experiences reflected in the story.
Quotes from the book:
• “Never be afraid of making a mess. That’s the fastest way of getting thing done.”
• “Soledad, when you write something down, it keeps it alive. There is a certain power to words, memories, ideas when one writes them down.”
My thoughts:
Have you ever read a story that mirrors your family so well that you feel as if the book was written for you? Such was my experience when reading Soledad. It wasn’t exactly the same as my life, but the characters and how the characters react to their situations were familiar.
“It’s always like that: just when I think I don’t give a shit about what my family thinks, they find a way to drag me back home.”
Cruz had me at the first sentence and I find that weird. I knew from reading that sentence that I would enjoy the story and that I would find it hard to pull away from it for long. Why is that? How can some authors pull me in from so early in the story while others can’t? Is it a matter or style or voice? I’d really like to puzzle this out.
The narrator’s voice drew me into the story. The story is told in first-person but from multiple perspectives with Soledad as our protagonist. Soledad is a young, 20-something woman who has left home to seek freedom and space from her family. She is an artist and works part-time at a gallery. Her family are immigrants from Dominica Republic who settled in Washington Heights, a bad part of New York City, where Soledad has spent most of her life. When the story opens, Soledad is returning home to visit her ailing mother.
I could relate to Soledad in many ways. I could relate to her struggles as an immigrant, as the child of immigrants, and as a young woman developing ideals that conflict with what her family believe and enforce. I could relate to her frustration with having to live with family members who constantly pry into her life and refuse to acknowledge that she’s no longer a child, and I could relate to her skepticism about her family’s spiritual beliefs. When Soledad sees her mother, Olivia, she believes that Olivia is in need of medical help due to her semi-catatonic state. But Soledad’s grandmother and aunt assure her that Olivia is simply resolving some issues in her sleep. Soledad thinks they’re crazy.
“My grandmother is split between ideas, country, her dreams and what’s real.”
In this way, Cruz includes elements of magical realism in her story. Olivia is indeed resolving issues in her sleep. She is haunted by her past and the magnitude of all she is dealing with seems so great that she has become speechless and near immobile at times. Ghosts from her past manifest in the present and cause trouble for both Olivia and her family members so her sister, Soledad’s aunt named Gorda, turns to her herbs to cleanse Olivia’s apartment of its bad spirits.
Spirits, bad juju, and the like are easily believed by Soledad’s family but Soledad fights against this at first as she battles with her cultures and identities, being both an American and a Dominican and living in America and thus influenced by American ideals but having a strong Dominican upbringing with family who still hold onto their Dominican beliefs. As the story progresses, Soledad learns more about herself, her parents, and origin and begins to accept herself for who she is and to feel comfortable being Soledad: an immigrant from Washington Heights with a family that some might call crazy.
I enjoyed watching all the characters develop. Though Soledad is the protagonist, the story focuses on all members of her family who are all affected and changed by what has happened to Soledad’s mother. I did not have a favorite character in this story because though I could relate to Soledad on many levels, I did not like her. I thought her too stuck-up, “stoosh” is the Jamaican slang, and though I understood why that is, I couldn’t shake my initial reaction to her. I did, however, like Ciego, a blind, wise old man who dishes out advice to everyone, and Soledad’s grandmother was pretty cool too because she reminded me of my own. However, Flaca, Soledad’s cousin, was an annoyance because of her immaturity but her character rang true to me for how girls her age sometimes behave.
Though I enjoyed the story, I was not a fan of the writing. It’s sometimes descriptive, which I liked, but other times the sentences threw me off and I can’t say what caused that. It wasn’t the inclusion of Spanish words, which adds authenticity to the story, I just don’t know why. Also, no quotation marks were included to indicate speech, which sometimes made me confused but I got by. I did not like the ending. It’s hard to say what happens. It’s pretty open-ended but to me, it seems that the story ended with storylines still hanging.
Overall: ★★★☆☆ 1/2
It’s a pretty good story and I recommend it if you’re looking for something short but good that focuses on family, relationships, and identity. I also recommend it if you’re looking for a “diverse read” recommendation or a story that includes magical realism. I enjoyed reading it and loved that I could easily see parts of my and my family’s experiences reflected in the story.
Quotes from the book:
• “Never be afraid of making a mess. That’s the fastest way of getting thing done.”
• “Soledad, when you write something down, it keeps it alive. There is a certain power to words, memories, ideas when one writes them down.”
April 16, 2023
3.5
ouch charlie!
ouch charlie!
December 24, 2022
Ms Cruz nailing so gracefully women’s relationships to a country that’s foreign to them, their romantic relationships, to each other, to their daughters, and with themselves once again. Tugging at my heart strings yet again! Part of me wanted just a bit more but I think it was really well written for a debut novel, and having read her recent novel, it’s so nice to see her growth as an author in those 20 years! ☺️
May 13, 2015
This is an episodic story of a troubled Dominican family in Washington Heights. The focus is very much on the women’s experience, particularly their (often difficult) relationships with each other. Most of the novel takes place within the same apartment. Some of the writing was very good, but there didn’t seem to be much of a story. This was more like an onion structure than a plot: as the story goes on, more and more is revealed about the family and how they got to be where they are. There is a young, college-educated girl who lives downtown and has pretty much abandoned the clan (that is the titular character); there is her very ill mother; her crazy, abusive father; her mother’s sister; and that woman’s teenage daughter. There are various tensions going on among the characters. I read about half of it and it was not bad, but it didn’t truly hold my interest.
June 23, 2011
Spencer gave me this book to read in March. I haven't really been able to get into it, even after 100 pages. It was assigned reading for a Literature class he is taking. It has an intriguing story line, about a girl born to Dominican parents who abandons the NYC north side to assimilate into the city. She goes home when her mother is ill, and is sucked back into the squabbles of the mother, the aunt, the grandmother, the cousin. I wonder why I' supposed to like it? I will finish it though since it's not a library book.
February 3, 2020
It was ok. I enjoyed her other book, Dominicana so much more! I think i didnt like it as much bc the story was told in the viewpoint of several characters and it jumped back and forth between them all throughout making it a little confusing at times.
December 16, 2017
aaaaaaaand I definitely wept reading the final three sentences of this book.
July 3, 2023
Pros
Growing up in my Tití’s house and at times feeling like the artsy daughter who “left” to explore the world, Soledad’s vignettes held a lot of power over me. She’s smart, talented, and yet still struggles to validate her experiences, because of the expectations (or lack there of) of others. A constant struggle for eldest daughters, honestly — to want for more but to feel bad about that want. Watching your elders age, not being able to fix their problems.
The characters were very thoughtfully illustrated throughout the story. Their motivations and actions were unique, unpredictable, and dimensional in a way that will stick with you longterm. I wish them all well, like they’re my own tíos y primas. I hope Flaca grows to love herself more than the attention of others. I hope Isabel learns the coconut fish recipe. I hope Abuelita puts on her lipstick daily.
—
Cons
I struggled with the form factor on this one (it took me months to actually finish because reading it felt like an exam) but the overall value still got me.
This is a book that probably could’ve used a family tree, chapter markers for each character/date, and quotation marks around dialogue, because I put a lot of mental power into keeping it all straight 😅
I also think the magic could’ve taken a bigger role in the story; it popped up here and there and most notably at the end, but just a dusting more would’ve maybe acted as a greater glue between occurrences that were triggered.
—
Things resolved a bit quickly, but still carried a lot of power. Sometimes all you need is one moment of redemption.
This book made me want to call up my cousins and hear their stories; it seems we all need someone else to tell them to.
Growing up in my Tití’s house and at times feeling like the artsy daughter who “left” to explore the world, Soledad’s vignettes held a lot of power over me. She’s smart, talented, and yet still struggles to validate her experiences, because of the expectations (or lack there of) of others. A constant struggle for eldest daughters, honestly — to want for more but to feel bad about that want. Watching your elders age, not being able to fix their problems.
The characters were very thoughtfully illustrated throughout the story. Their motivations and actions were unique, unpredictable, and dimensional in a way that will stick with you longterm. I wish them all well, like they’re my own tíos y primas. I hope Flaca grows to love herself more than the attention of others. I hope Isabel learns the coconut fish recipe. I hope Abuelita puts on her lipstick daily.
—
Cons
I struggled with the form factor on this one (it took me months to actually finish because reading it felt like an exam) but the overall value still got me.
This is a book that probably could’ve used a family tree, chapter markers for each character/date, and quotation marks around dialogue, because I put a lot of mental power into keeping it all straight 😅
I also think the magic could’ve taken a bigger role in the story; it popped up here and there and most notably at the end, but just a dusting more would’ve maybe acted as a greater glue between occurrences that were triggered.
—
Things resolved a bit quickly, but still carried a lot of power. Sometimes all you need is one moment of redemption.
This book made me want to call up my cousins and hear their stories; it seems we all need someone else to tell them to.
May 25, 2024
The audacity of Cruz to end this story the way she did, leaving me with all these questions of what happens next. I'll forgive it because she ended the book with the perfect last line. Truly though, what a captivating read. I got invested in these characters real quick, and when the magical realism comes in (most prominently anyway) at the climax, I was stunned. The writing was also so beautiful, very true to the magical realism genre while still capturing her unique voice and passion. Genuinely, this book made me rethink my own magical realism novel set in Colombia. It truly inspired me. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys magical realism, especially those of the Latino community.
January 2, 2023
this isn't an easy read.
Angie Cruz is a phenomenal writer and Dominicana is one of my favourite books ever. Soledad is quiet similar, so many layers, so much had happened to these women. It actually made me cry and made me angry at the same time.
The books is much more complex and deep than you believe it is from the description.
Not for everyone but worth the read.
Angie Cruz is a phenomenal writer and Dominicana is one of my favourite books ever. Soledad is quiet similar, so many layers, so much had happened to these women. It actually made me cry and made me angry at the same time.
The books is much more complex and deep than you believe it is from the description.
Not for everyone but worth the read.
January 27, 2024
Angie Cruz is an amazing author! 2 of her books will live on my shelves forever so I wanted to read the first book she ever wrote! While it wasn’t a 5-star read for me, it was really close & I still really enjoyed it!
Soledad is a 20-year-old Dominicana art student living in East Village with her best friend. She has a complex relationship with her mom and hasn’t been back home to Washington Heights in 2 years. As summer begins her Tia Gorda gives her a call to let her know her mom isn’t doing well and is in an emotional coma. While Soledad initially has reservations about returning home, she ends up salvaging her damaged relationship with her mother. Her teen prima Flaca also has a prominent role in the novel due to a shared love interest in the neighborhood.
This novel is full of secrets, generational trauma, loss, loneliness, forgiveness, supernatural elements, and it’s a bit sexually explicit too
*Trigger warning for domestic violence and sexual abuse.
Soledad is a 20-year-old Dominicana art student living in East Village with her best friend. She has a complex relationship with her mom and hasn’t been back home to Washington Heights in 2 years. As summer begins her Tia Gorda gives her a call to let her know her mom isn’t doing well and is in an emotional coma. While Soledad initially has reservations about returning home, she ends up salvaging her damaged relationship with her mother. Her teen prima Flaca also has a prominent role in the novel due to a shared love interest in the neighborhood.
This novel is full of secrets, generational trauma, loss, loneliness, forgiveness, supernatural elements, and it’s a bit sexually explicit too
*Trigger warning for domestic violence and sexual abuse.
August 20, 2020
This is the second book that I have read by Angie Cruz after Dominicana and, despite being much older (and I guess the author was “less experienced” when she wrote it), it has not disappointed me at all. First, I must say the edition I acquired (Simon & Schuster New York) seemed a bit of poor quality to me and it was hard to read because it barely had margins. But we are speaking about the content here.
Angie Cruz really manages to create the atmosphere of Washington Heights in this book, she really does make the reader feel as if she was there. She tells the story of Soledad, a second-generation Dominican raised in New York. Soledad is really sensitive and artistry, and she does think these features are incompatible with the spontaneity of her non cultivated family, to name it somehow. But the truth is that she cannot run away from her identity and roots, which are much more important than she thinks Destiny brings her back to her old neighbourhood where she will get to understand her relationship with her mother, her story, and her expectancies of love. This is a love and family story, a coming-of-age and a good story for everyone who is trying to find themselves. I really enjoy reading Angie Cruz, her prose is fluent and engaging. She really can say beautiful things with simple and neat language.
To say some negatives, I am Spanish so the reading this was easy for me, but I do believe it would be kind of difficult to read for someone who knows no Spanish at all, since there are so many Spanish terms intertwined in the English sentences. I would also say the outcome of Soledad and Richie’s story seemed a bit dull to me. I guess it was meant to be that way though. I was expecting much more from the ending in general.
Anyway, I do love Angie Cruz’ prose and I am definitely reading Let It Rain Coffee next and looking forward for her new publications. Her books teach us a little piece of history about the Dominican community in America throughout everyday stories, everyday lives. And I think that is the best way of teaching something.
My favourite quote:
“[…]and remember how every time I stepped out of line my mother threatened to send me home. Home, República Dominicana home. Every time my mother says home she means San Pedro de Macorís, and my grandmother means Juan Dolio, where her parents, my great-grandparents, still live. It is clear that my grandmother’s home in Washington Heights is temporary, until they make enough money to return home. Victor and Gorda also call this place home. In the end, they are born and want to die in the island they think of as home. Home, rice and beans, apagones, plátanos, mango trees, día de los muertos, strikes, warm beach water, malecón, never having an election that doesn’t get recounted home… In New York they don’t live, they work, until we go home. My mother always told me that home is a place to rest, a place to live.”
September 8, 2019
I first read this book when I was fifteen years old for my Spanish class in high school. My teacher at the time, Mr. Segura, reassured the class that Angie Cruz, was going to be one of the brightest stars in Spanish literature. As young woman, I remembered liking the book and liking Cruz's bubbly personality. As part of the Spanish class, we were able to meet Cruz a few weeks after completing the novel. A few years passed and she released her second book which I also greatly appreciated.
Fifteen years later, I decided to re-read Soledad, in hopes of reconnecting with my Latin American roots and I am glad that I did. As an adult, I connected with the book in ways I could had never connected with as a teenager. Soledad beautifully captures what it is being the daughter of an immigrant Latina mother and the struggles that comes with that identity. Cruz vividly describes the struggles of immigrant families living in Washington Heights and the struggles that comes when one tries to hold onto secrets that eat away at the soul. My favorite out of all of Cruz's three books, Soledad will always hold a special place in my life.
Fifteen years later, I decided to re-read Soledad, in hopes of reconnecting with my Latin American roots and I am glad that I did. As an adult, I connected with the book in ways I could had never connected with as a teenager. Soledad beautifully captures what it is being the daughter of an immigrant Latina mother and the struggles that comes with that identity. Cruz vividly describes the struggles of immigrant families living in Washington Heights and the struggles that comes when one tries to hold onto secrets that eat away at the soul. My favorite out of all of Cruz's three books, Soledad will always hold a special place in my life.
July 24, 2008
Ok...I will start by saying that I found some of the characters problematic in that they are all vague Dominican stereotypes. I also have a major issue with the fact that there is not one redeeming male character in the book...at all. I also found that it was simply not well written. For example, one of the characters who is supposed to be vaguely redeemable comes across as caustic at best, toxic at face value and sociopathic at worse, yet you are supposed to, in brush stroke, feel sympathy for them?
That being said I enjoyed this book. It's an interesting take on the organic nature of the female familial experience in latino culture. Worth a read with an open mind. The story starts slow and moves along and the main character is something that I think many latinas (and latinos) can relate to.
That being said I enjoyed this book. It's an interesting take on the organic nature of the female familial experience in latino culture. Worth a read with an open mind. The story starts slow and moves along and the main character is something that I think many latinas (and latinos) can relate to.
July 14, 2019
"Soledad" is the first novel by writer Angie Cruz, a Dominican writer from Washington Heights in New York City. The story is about an eighteen year old Domincan woman named Soledad who attends college and has to return to West 164th Street when her mother falls into mental despair. Soledad tries to reconnect with her mother and family and herself.
The story has colorful characters from the neighborhood and through Soledad we learn about her family members and their own stories. I liked how the story talks about the Dominican community in New York as well as Soledad's family in the Dominican Republic. This story has a few intense moments but I thought Angie Cruz really delivered at the end. I will be reading her next book "Dominicana."
The story has colorful characters from the neighborhood and through Soledad we learn about her family members and their own stories. I liked how the story talks about the Dominican community in New York as well as Soledad's family in the Dominican Republic. This story has a few intense moments but I thought Angie Cruz really delivered at the end. I will be reading her next book "Dominicana."
October 5, 2009
Soledad was born con la pata caliente -- with feet burning to be anywhere but here. Soledad couldn't wait to get beyond the stifling confines of her street, away from her superstitious, contentious family with their endless tragedies and petty fights; But when, Olivia, Soledad's mother, has lapsed into an emotional coma, Soledad knows she must return to the Dominican because it is the only thing that will cure her mother. This is where the journey begins as she faces the biggest challenge of her life.
December 22, 2023
This book made me feels like I was part of there family from Soledad mom in an emotional coma, her grandfather passing away leaving her grandmother alone, gorda racing her child on her own after her husband left and disappeared and flaca growing up so fast and trying to fit in her neighborhood in Washington Heights New York City! Each of the characters in the book was trying to find their purpose and life coming from the Dominican Republic to a city that’s always busy. This book was absolutely phenomenal is definitely a good read and I really enjoyed it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 6, 2015
I myself am dominican and related 110% with her when it came to certain things. This book left me with a incredible roller coaster of emotions. It was so good a great read. I learned a lot from this book too because although some may say she used fantasy she very much didnt things like that really happens due to all the "brujeria" being used. I didn't give it a five because in some parts I had to read it all over cause I would get lost but over all awesome !!
November 17, 2017
Yet another perspective of the Dominican diaspora, set in Washington Heights. Could not give it 5 stars because the ending left me frustrated, though I understand lives cannot be neatly tied with a bow. The various characters provide an opportunity for discussion on perceptions, the value of family and what support is expected versus given, gender expectations, travelling beyond your traditional border, etc.
August 29, 2023
this book's voice just captured from page 1. i didn't entirely understand it, but i did appreciate the loneliness of each of its central characters and its vision of washington heights, and its dominican diaspora. something very small about all these characters' lives in ways that are comforting and sad. the voice kept me engaged throughout even as i lost some of the shape of the story, but i was happy to have spend my time with it.
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