I’m not tooooo late reviewing this one as it was published on 23 January. Although I’ve read many novels of immigration over the years, this told a new story of the Dominican Republic in the 1960s and of a young wife reminiscent of the heroine of “The Girl with the Louding Voice”.Thank you to John Murray Press for allowing me to read this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Angie Cruz – “Dominicana”
(16 December 2019, NetGalley)
A powerful and moving novel with at least one absolutely heart-wrenching moment (I wrote that in my notebook first, but actually there are several), centred around 15-year-old Ana’s marriage to Juan, twice her age and just one of the Ruiz brothers who are flipping between New York and the Dominican Republic, full of tales of American riches but in that age-old way trying to form partnerships to get hold of land and young, fertile women and other resources through marriage. Everything is seen as an exchange of goods, money or power/information, and Ana has to learn quickly.
So Ana is whisked off to New York where she must keep all her wits about her, deal with her abusive husband and try to carve out some space and education for herself. It’s heart-breaking when every small mistake can be catastrophic and she’s watched at every turn, and devastating when she can only perhaps be saved when she becomes a qualifying link in the matriarchal line, although her mother is still a strong force of criticism.
Like in “The Girl with the Louding Voice”, Ana, this woman in the 1960s, without paperwork and with every penny saved liable to disappear, has her own powerful voice and personality and an author to champion her untold story – in this case, Cruz’s mother’s story, who said to her,
“Who would be interested in a story about a woman like me? It is so typical.”
And yet it’s a fascinating window into the lives of just one group among many groups of immigrants in the world, and their home country’s history, too.
Mar 10, 2020 @ 08:51:14
Interesting – I liked Ana’s voice but I don’t think I found this novel as emotionally engaging as you did. It seems to be dividing readers! My review is up tomorrow.
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Mar 10, 2020 @ 09:05:03
I’m looking forward to your review. A few people have mentioned there weren’t many surprises in the book, but I’ve read quite a lot of immigration-themed novels and non-fiction and found it quite novel (ha). I think having recently read “The Girl with the Louding Voice” might well have coloured my reaction to this one.
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Mar 10, 2020 @ 09:12:40
Interesting. I found it very predictable in structural terms (I seem to have read a lot of novels about women immigrating to New York and enduring abusive marriages!) but I did like the vividness of Cruz’s writing.
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Mar 10, 2020 @ 09:15:15
Ah, OK, I’m not sure how many specifically New York ones I’ve read (any you’d recommend?) so that’s making it seem newer to me. I seem to have read more stuff about coming to the UK or smaller towns in America, I think. Interesting.
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Mar 10, 2020 @ 10:00:24
I’ve usually struggled with them e.g. Imbolo Mbue’s Behold the Dreamers so no real recommendations! I do think Dominicana is better than many I’ve read.
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Mar 10, 2020 @ 09:34:17
Sounds like this covers two different angles – the state of women in that period, and the state of women from particular cultures. Fascinating!
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Mar 10, 2020 @ 09:36:49
Yes, indeed: a nice bit of intersectionality!
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Mar 10, 2020 @ 10:08:04
I agree with you that this felt completely fresh despite the many immigration stories I’ve read. I loved Ana’s voice and her pluck. But as Laura says, the reviews are all over the place with this one! So I don’t think we’ll see it make the Women’s Prize shortlist. It’s encouraging to see your comparison to The Girl with the Louding Voice, as I have that one on hold through the library.
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Mar 11, 2020 @ 09:29:44
I’ve not seen many other reviews and I don’t seem to have come across the huge wave of immigrants-in-New-York stories that Laura has encountered! And yes, it felt like a companion piece to Girl in the same way that American Marriage and Such a Fun Age complemented each other, although there might be claims that this one is historical and wouldn’t happen now …
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Mar 10, 2020 @ 17:47:41
There seem to be a lot of novels about with this theme at the moment, don’t there? This sounds like a good solid read.
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Mar 11, 2020 @ 09:30:05
I really recommend it; it was excellent and a great heroine to cheer for.
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Mar 11, 2020 @ 11:07:35
Excellent!
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Mar 11, 2020 @ 07:12:17
Now this sounds like something I would love to devour. That it was, and presumably still is typical is quite a telling statement.
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Mar 11, 2020 @ 09:30:41
It’s a valuable and interesting read with a wonderful central character. Hope you can find a copy.
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Mar 11, 2020 @ 12:05:37
I’m not an immigrant—I’ve lived in the same town all my life—and my parents and grandparents were not immigrants, but somehow I’ve always felt like an immigrant, growing up in a town where I had no relatives, with family in far distant states. I’ve always been interested in books about the immigrant experience.
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Mar 11, 2020 @ 15:14:48
Oh, that’s interesting! I am 1/64 an immigrant as my gran’s grandfather was Spanish, and my cousin’s husband is Polish and living here, which is a lovely branch of the family to have acquired.
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Mar 11, 2020 @ 19:55:10
This sounds fascinating and very powerful. Immigration experiences make for such moving stories. The gut wrenching aspect of the story sounds very emotional.
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Mar 11, 2020 @ 20:06:23
I think you’d really enjoy this one – an ebook I’m afraid so I can’t pass it to you! There is some upsetting stuff but nothing I couldn’t cope with, you just end up so engaged with the central character.
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