| America's Dream Contributor(s): Santiago, Esmeralda (Author) |
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ISBN: 0060928263 ISBN-13: 9780060928261 Publisher: Harper Perennial OUR PRICE: $14.39 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: April 1997 Annotation: Amirica Gonzalez is a hotel housekeeper on an island off the coast of Puerto Rico, cleaning up after wealthy foreigners who don't look her in the eye. Her alcoholic mother resents her; her married boyfriend, Correa, beats her; and their fourteen-year-old daughter thinks life would be better anywhere but with Amirica. So when Amirica is offered the chance to work as a live-in housekeeper and nanny for a family in Westchester County, New York, she takes it as a sign that a door to escape has been opened. Yet even as Amirica revels in the comparative luxury of her new life, daring to care about a man other than Correa, she is faced with dramatic proof that no matter what she does, she can't get away from her past. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Hispanic & Latino - Fiction | Women - Fiction | Cultural Heritage |
| Dewey: FIC |
| LCCN: 95025706 |
| Physical Information: 1" H x 5.6" W x 8.9" (0.70 lbs) 336 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Caribbean & West Indies - Cultural Region - Mid-Atlantic - Cultural Region - Northeast U.S. - Ethnic Orientation - Hispanic - Geographic Orientation - New York |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Lyrical and] haunting, Am rica's liberating epiphany will have readers . . . on their feet and cheering. -- Washington Post Deftly written and fiercely resilient, Am rica's Dream explores the ever-shifting definition of what it means to be American and exemplifies the spirit of every immigrant who has dared to realize the American dream. Am rica Gonzalez is a hotel housekeeper on Vieques, an island off the coast of Puerto Rico, cleaning up after wealthy foreigners who don't look her in the eye. Her alcoholic mother resents her; her married boyfriend, Correa, beats her; and their fourteen-year-old daughter thinks life would be better anywhere but with Am rica. So when Am rica is offered the chance to work as a live-in housekeeper and nanny for a family in Westchester, New York, she takes it as a sign to finally make the escape she's been longing for. Yet, even as Am rica revels in the comparative luxury of her new life--daring to care about a man other than Correa--she is faced with the disquieting realization that no matter what she does, she can never really escape her past. |
Contributor Bio(s): Santiago, Esmeralda: - Esmeralda Santiago has written for such publications as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and The Christian Science Monitor. Born in Puerto Rico, she is a graduate of Harvard University and lives in Katonah, NY. When I Was Puerto Rican. América's Dream is her first novel. |