AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER THE WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF 2021A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK WINNER of the Isabel Allende Most Inspirational Fiction Award, She Reads Best of 2021 Awards * FINALIST for the 2022 Southern Book Prize * LONGLISTED for Crook’s Corner Book Prize * NOMINEE for 2021 GoodReads Choice Award in Debut Novel and Historical Fiction A sweeping, masterful … 2021 GoodReads Choice Award in Debut Novel and Historical Fiction
A sweeping, masterful debut about a daughter’s fateful choice, a mother motivated by her own past, and a family legacy that begins in Cuba before either of them were born
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.
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Not a topic I knew much about so found interesting
This book takes a deep look into immigration issues and why. It is a generational story and really did not enjoy reading this book as it kept going forward and backward through time and characters. The family dynamic is all there and since I live close to these issues not a book I would have chosen to read but a friend liked it. It is upsetting
I found it difficult to get into.
I struggled with this book although I did finish it. The characters seemed so disconected until the very end. At that point it was a disappointment, not an ahha moment..
I write a full review of this novel in NYJB. It reads like a series of interplaying short stories, each chapter told from a different female character’s point of view. Jeanette is at the crux of the story, a recovering addict, on probation, doing temp work from home. She is from a long line of strong Cuban woman, first generation American citizen, living in a housing complex. When she witnesses her next door neighbor being ushered away by ICE officers, she has to decide later in the day whether to answer the door when the neighbor’s little girl gets dropped off after school to an empty house. The threads of two families are then interwoven with such mastery. A reflection on world view, outsider status, and empathy. A must read.
Thank you to Flatiron books for this ARC of Gabriela Garcia’s debut novel. This books beautifully blends stories from nineteenth-century Cuba to present day Miami and Mexico. The women in the book share their powerful stores of poverty, love, and resilience. Carmen, an immigrant from Cubs, struggles to help her addicted daughter Jeanette. Jeannette ends up with the daughter of her neighbor, who has been detained by ICE. Their stories become entwined as they travel to Mexico and Cuba- one seeking freedom and one seeking answers to her family’s history. A poignant tale.
This story revolves around two main characters, our protagonist Daniel Sajadi, and our “evil villian” Taj. Daniel grew up in Afganistan, son of an Afgani father who was revered by his country, and his American mother, who deserted them when Daniel was a boy. Daniel was educated in America and returns to his country to try to eliminate the dominance of the opium industry. Taj is a rich influencial poppy grower.
I learned a lot about the poppy growers in Afganistan and the enormous amount of political influence they have. The vast empires created by the opium industry determine who gets elected to government positions, so much so that wiithout their backing, a candidate has no possibility of winning. The poppy farmers have made slaves of their workers, who, without any other source of income, work lengthy days much like the black slaves on the plantations before our civil war.
In “Of Women and Salt,” Gabriela Garcia set out to illustrate the plight of women from several generations, one a cigar roller who endured a war in Cuba, one who emigrated, another who worries for her drug addicted daughter; and a woman who illegally crossed the US border to find a better life for her young daughter. The story is told with each chapter serving as a snapshot of one or more of the women.
The author heads each chapter with a woman’s name (which can be cross-referenced on a genealogy graph at the beginning of the book, one I referred to frequently.) and a date. However, even with this help, the story jumps about enough that it can be a bit confusing. There are beautifully lyrical passages in places, and a staccato pace in others.
The point of it, though, is truly to showcase the strength and humanity of immigrant women. The repeated phrase “we are a force” illustrates this.
The story looks at women’s roles. “…it had always been women who wove the future out of the scraps, always the characters, never the authors.” And struggles. “…sobriety is a daily exercise, especially at night.”
There are uncomfortable glimpses into prejudices and crimes, social issues and responsibilities. Gabriela Garcia doesn’t dwell of the politics. These tales are quick peeks into weighty subjects. However, they do humanize the often marginalized immigrants.
I had an ARC, and as such, I did not read a dedication or acknowledgements page, but from what I had, the author’s love for the history of her characters shines through.
My Review of Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia; published by Flatiron Books
Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia is a story that encapsulates the lives of several women throughout the decades of time. The subject matter covered is important, especially in today’s world. However; I felt the book as a whole to be too erratic as it was difficult for me to follow. There were a few strange incidences weaved into the story that I still wonder as to their prevalence. I will say that Gabriela Garcia did a great job pulling the story together allowing me to feel redemptive after completing this book.
I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway. All thoughts are my own.
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