Play Book Tag discussion

Antonia Vega has recently suffered a great loss. On the day of her retirement from her teaching position her husband Sam died of a massive heart attack as he was on his way to meet her at a restaurant for a celebration. Antonia feels unmoored in this new life although it has now been nearly a year. She believes that the hole in her heart will never heal but that she will learn to live with the hole in her heart. Antonia does still have the love of her sisters: Izzy, Mona and Tilly. Izzy, the oldest has suddenly gone missing and the 'sisterhood' is understandably worried about their mercurial sister. Izzy, a retired psychiatrist, is the one who always had the grand schemes impractical as they might be. Trying to trace her whereabouts the sisters learn that Izzy has sold her house in Boston, put a down payment on abandoned motel and is traveling with a trailer that holds a rescued llama family. None of this is surprising to the others but it has become apparent that when the elusive Izzy is found that it is time to stage an intervention to get Izzy the help she needs.

Next door to Antonia's Vermont home lives a dairy farmer who employs several illegal aliens. One of them, Mario, pleads with Antonia to help him bring his girlfriend Estela to Vermont. Estela is in Denver having been abandoned by the coyotes who brought her across the border. Antonia agrees to send a bus ticket to the young woman. Estela arrives at Antonia's door having now been abandoned by Mario once he saw her 9 month's pregnant belly and knowing the child cannot possibly be his as he has been away from his girlfriend for 2 years. In all of her grief counseling Antonia has been asked, "who is the most important person?" She knows the answer must be herself but how can she not put Estela and Izzy before her own needs.

This is such a lovely story of a woman fighting through her own sorrow to try to be the reliable one for everyone else. Her relationship with her sisters is volatile, fun and tragic at times. The author writes so beautifully and the story is full of deliciously quotable sentences. Antonia is a woman that we all would like to have as a friend.

Thanks for your review. I like Julia Alvarez and haven't read this. On the list it goes!

This has been on my radar and your review has convinced me to move it up.