by Cathryn Conroy (Dublin, Ohio): This three-generational family epic is a poignant and perceptive story of mothers and daughters—the love and affection, as well as the anger and antagonism. It is a story that begins in Puerto Rico, continues to St. Louis and New York, and ends in our hearts.
Written by Jeanine Cummins, the novel takes place from the 1950s to 2023, bouncing—often jarringly—from decade to decade and character to character. It is the opposite of a linear, chronological tale, and we readers really need to sit up and pay attention or risk getting lost.
The novel opens in 2023 in Palisades, New York when Ruth, the widowed mother of two, finds out that her daughter Daisy, who has moved to San Juan instead of going to college, was gravely injured during a hurricane. Ruth would do anything to be there with her daughter, but all the flights have been canceled. The story then abruptly backs up to 1968 in San Juan on Ruth’s parents’ wedding day, a wedding with an inauspicious beginning as Peter Brennan’s Irish-American family wants nothing to do with his marrying Puerto Rican Rafaela Acuña y Daubón. The novel backs up again to Rafaela’s storied childhood in San Juan, the precious daughter of wealthy and devoted parents who lose everything just as she is about to finish high school.
Rafaela and Ruth eventually get to Daisy’s bedside in San Juan, the place where their family story began and they consider all the choices and decisions throughout the years that got them to where they are now. The latter part of the book quickly becomes much like a soap opera—granted, it’s a page-turner—but it’s still a bit over the top and histrionic in emotion and pulls on the heartstrings.
At the center of this novel, is the question of identity—not only ethnic identity but also identity within a family. Who are we? Where do we truly belong? It’s also a love story—romantic love and family love.
My qualm with the book is the format. Jumping around in time and character is a common tool for writers, but it takes great expertise on the part of the author or it can be confusing and disorienting for readers. Proper segues are vitally important, and Cummins doesn’t do that, so it feels like a lot of hard stops from chapter to chapter.
That said, this is a compelling and thoughtful book with a story that is told with candor and compassion.
