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Saving the World

In The Time of the Butterflies

In the Name of Salomé

From the moment I heard the story of Salomé Ureña, I was intrigued. Born in 1850 to a humble family, this young woman of mixed race managed to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to become la musa de la patria. But her fame came with a high personal price: a tragic love story, an early death. One thing leads to another when you're writing: in the process of researching Salomé's life, I discovered that her only daughter, Camila, taught Spanish for years at Vassar College and during the summers at Middlebury College, where I am now a writer-in-residence. In 1960, Camila, then 63, gave up tenure and headed for Cuba to join a literacy brigade—an inexplicable and extraordinary choice for a woman who seemed very settled in her quiet, academic life. You wouldn't know it from reading the official stories, but Latin America has had its share of amazing women.

see also: Penguin Book Club Reading Guide
Book Excerpt at Algonquin.com
Interview at BookReporter.com

¡YO!

I've been asked if this novel is a sequel to How The García Girls Lost Their Accents. Not at all. The García family and their immigration to the USA were the focus of the first novel. In this novel, the character of Yolanda serves as a sort of catalyst to bring forth stories from friends, family members, strangers who have a score to settle with her. In the course of telling their stories, these characters often reveal more about their own yos ("I" in Spanish) than about Yo.

Director Julia Solomonoff's sassy & funny movie based on the chapter titled, "The Suitor," aired on PBS in September 2005. Visit GiganticPictures.com for more on the film.

see also: Penguin Book Club Reading Guide

How the García Girls
Lost Their Accents

The four García sisters come to this country as young girls with their immigrant parents. Suddenly, they are swept up in the freewheeling American culture of the 60s (then, the 70s and 80s) with its dizzying choices and challenges. Somehow, they have to try to straddle this life with their Island/Latino culture as represented by Mami and Papi. What is lost, what is gained when a family leaves an old world to come to a new one?

see also: Penguin Book Club Reading Guide

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