Dominicana by Angie Cruz

Dominicana by Angie Cruz is the story of Ana, who is forced to marry so that she can live in the US, hopefully to prosper and send money home to the Dominican Republic. Eventually, she plans to sponsor family members who also want to become American. She is 15, her husband is 32 when they hastily marry and move to New York.

In New York, Ana finds that her husband is not the wealthy man he pretended to be. Nor is he as kind as everyone thought. In fact, this book needs a trigger warning for domestic violence. Finding herself trapped in poor circumstances, Ana comes up with sneaky ways to set money aside for herself. Ana works hard at making her home comfortable, cooking delicious foods from their home country, and helping him with a shady business out of their apartment. But, when she makes a costly mistake, will it end her chance to escape from his violence?

Recommended - I enjoyed Dominicana mostly for the work ethic and creativity of the heroine, but I also loved the way she got to know her neighbors (in spite of the language barrier), found a way to start learning English when her husband was not around to force her to stay home, and eventually made her own money. She screwed up plenty, mostly because of her youth and naïvité. But, I cared for her and hoped things would work out. The 1960s setting was unfortunately not well described. I had to keep reminding myself of the time period.

It's been a couple weeks since I read Dominicana but I remember it well. I found it very difficult to put down and since we were being hit by the outer bands of Hurricane Hanna, it was a great day to read. Hanna even cooled us off enough that I was able to spend part of my reading time outside. In July! Yay!

I think I have Instagram to thank for this recommendation. I remember seeing it frequently, not so long ago. Maybe it was a Book of the Month Club selection? At any rate, I read lots of reviews and I'm glad I was able to read a copy. The story is based on the author's mother's story. I'm curious how similar it is and in what aspects she departed from her mother's experience.


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Mad Boy by Nick Arvin

Mad Boy: An Account of Henry Phipps in the War of 1812 is the story of a boy who decides he must fulfill his mother's wish to bury her by the sea. Clocking in at a mere 236 pages, it is quite a tale of adventure. At the beginning of Mad Boy, Henry's mother is still alive. His father is in debtor's prison and Henry has just been told his older brother has been shot for going AWOL. The family has been in decline for several generations and has switched places with a former tenant, going from landlord to tenant, big house to dilapidated cabin. Henry's older brother has been in a relationship with the landlord's daughter but went off to war to earn soldier's pay when his father's drinking and gambling pushed them too far into debt.

So, everything is already falling apart when Henry's mother is tragically killed, leaving Henry to deal with figuring out how to get her body to Baltimore to be buried near her family and the sea, her first love. Meanwhile, there are Redcoats roaming the area, pillaging and causing all manner of trouble. And, Henry's path to the sea is not direct, to say the least.

I'm not going to say any more because it's so much fun to read the unfolding story, although I think it's of particular interest that Henry's mother is apparently bipolar. He describes her as talking non-stop and working herself to the bone when she's well, refusing to leave her bed and facing the wall when she's not. Henry continues to hear her chattering after she's killed, one of the most entertaining and endearing aspects of the book.

Highly recommended - I absolutely loved this book. It's both beautifully written and somewhat nuts, a young boy trying to haul his mother's body to the sea while war is going on around him and his mother's ghost occasionally tells him what to do. Toward the beginning of the book there are some graphic scenes that are a bit stomach-turning, but then the story becomes less gruesome and more adventurous. Henry is an interesting character and the family dynamics, the surprising things that happen (note: Henry is a very smart and restless boy), the battles around him, and the denouement are all utterly captivating. Chances are good that I'm going to spring for Nick Arvin's older book, Articles of War, very soon. I love his writing.

Mad Boy is a June release. I love this book and look at that cover! Isn't it marvelous? The copy I read was an ARC received from Europa Editions. I don't think I've ever read a book set during the War of 1812, before. I really enjoyed the setting and you know I'm going to feel compelled to read more about the War of 1812. That's how it always works, right?

©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.