Paperback, 256 pages
English language
Published Feb. 3, 2022 by Picador.
In present-day Miami, Jeanette is battling addiction. Daughter of Carmen, a Cuban immigrant, she is determined to learn more about her family history from her reticent mother and makes the snap decision to take in the daughter of a neighbor detained by ICE. Carmen, still wrestling with the trauma of displacement, must process her difficult relationship with her own mother while trying to raise a wayward Jeanette. Steadfast in her quest for understanding, Jeanette travels to Cuba to see her grandmother and reckon with secrets from the past destined to erupt.
From 19th-century cigar factories to present-day detention centers, from Cuba to Mexico, Gabriela Garcia's Of Women and Salt is a kaleidoscopic portrait of betrayals--personal and political, self-inflicted and those done by others--that have shaped the lives of these extraordinary women. A haunting meditation on the choices of mothers, the legacy of the memories they carry, and the tenacity of …
In present-day Miami, Jeanette is battling addiction. Daughter of Carmen, a Cuban immigrant, she is determined to learn more about her family history from her reticent mother and makes the snap decision to take in the daughter of a neighbor detained by ICE. Carmen, still wrestling with the trauma of displacement, must process her difficult relationship with her own mother while trying to raise a wayward Jeanette. Steadfast in her quest for understanding, Jeanette travels to Cuba to see her grandmother and reckon with secrets from the past destined to erupt.
From 19th-century cigar factories to present-day detention centers, from Cuba to Mexico, Gabriela Garcia's Of Women and Salt is a kaleidoscopic portrait of betrayals--personal and political, self-inflicted and those done by others--that have shaped the lives of these extraordinary women. A haunting meditation on the choices of mothers, the legacy of the memories they carry, and the tenacity of women who choose to tell their stories despite those who wish to silence them, this is more than a diaspora story; it is a story of America's most tangled, honest, human roots.
I was actually looking for some light YA thing when I bought this instead. Cause I didn't find a light YA thing that I was interested in. And this sounded good. It is good. It is also so heavy that I can't summarise the plot to people who ask me what I'm reading without also crying about it.
I've been reading a lot of multicultural fiction recently, written from multiple points of view across on non-linear timeline and this is a wonderful example of that style. I've been particularly looking for books that can help people from the dominant culture understand perspectives different from their own culture, and again, this book is a wonderful example.
I was struck by how all the interwoven stories were from the perspective of women. It is very powerful. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are interested in Cuba, Mexico, El Salvador, and how colonialism and U.S. policy has affected people from these countries.
