At last A zesty, exuberant follow-up to the wildly
popular How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, full of Julia
Alvarez''s keen observations and tender affection for her
characters.The Garcia Girls are back, most notably Yolanda, or
"Yo", who has grown up to be a writer. In the process, she has
managed to get kicked out of college, break more than a few hearts,
have her own heart broken many times, return for extended visits to
the Dominican Republic her family fled when she was a child, and
marry three times. She has also infuriated her entire family by
publishing the intimate details of their lives as fiction.The
injured parties -- her mother, her sisters, the Dominican cousins,
the maid''s daughter, her teachers, her lover, want to tell their
side of the story, and Yo hands the microphone to them. Cousin
Lucinda shrugs off Yo''s characterization of her as a "Latin
American Barbie" with "a size three soul", saying, "Looking at her
in her late 30s, knocking around the world without a husband,
house, or children, I think you are the haunted one who ended up
living your life mostly on paper".This brilliant novel is a full
and true exploration of a woman''s soul, a meditation on the writing
life, and a lyrical account of the immigrants search for identity
and a place in the world. Yo ''s bright colors, zesty dialogue, warm
feeling and genuine insight could only come from the palette of
Julia Alvarez."Lively and engaging...a display of writerly
virtuousity... inspiring". -- The Los Angeles Times