What a lot to pack into one short book! I got totally caught up in each successive generation as the story moved from Cuba to Miami, El Salvador to Texas. The voices are so strong and honest, it’s a moving exploration of women’s strengths and their failures – and a quietly devastating analysis of what they are up against.
Her mother. Pearls, slacks, wrinkle cream, a box of blank thank-you notes. Always put together. You look at her and just know: here is woman with answers. So often Jeanette has wondered how she came from such a woman. So often she’s felt both gratitude and embarrassment on her behalf. Jeanette: always a woman on the verge of cracking. You look at Jeanette and think: here is a woman with stories.
