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A review by amyvl93
Let It Rain Coffee by Angie Cruz
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I really enjoyed Angie Cruz's Dominicana when it was nominated for the Women's Prize, so I was excited to come across another one of her books in an independent book store I was browsing a few months ago.
Let in Rain Coffee is her second novel, and follows Esperanza whose desire for the American Dream (as displayed on the TV show Dallas) propels her, her husband Santo and their children to New York where there's never enough money. The family is placed under greater strain when Santo's father Don Chan arrives to live with them after the death of his wife; beginning a push and pull between the US and the Dominican Republic.
I really enjoyed this. The whole Colon family are painted in all their shades of complexity; Esperanza who care for her family but fritters money on fancy things, Santo who is unable to stand up to his father, Bobby & Dallas the two children (named again...for the TV show) who have to adjust to growing up in their complicated neighbourhood and Don Chan, orphan-turned-revolutionary left with his memories in his old age. The only character I felt was slightly underdeveloped was Mirabel, she's important to the novel for many reasons, and her presence has a hint of magical realism about it but I didn't feel close enough to understand her motivations (view spoiler).
Every place also feels vividly drawn; every scene that Cruz described I felt I could see as I was reading. I also felt that the amount of issues she tackles her; from Dominican history, what the 'right' way of responding to government is to debt and low-income working, to young pregnancy and crime; didn't feel excessive or eye-roll inducing. Instead, it felt entirely possible that these issues could touch and circle the family.
I think I may have found a new favourite author in Cruz and I'm excited to read her other two novels.
Let in Rain Coffee is her second novel, and follows Esperanza whose desire for the American Dream (as displayed on the TV show Dallas) propels her, her husband Santo and their children to New York where there's never enough money. The family is placed under greater strain when Santo's father Don Chan arrives to live with them after the death of his wife; beginning a push and pull between the US and the Dominican Republic.
I really enjoyed this. The whole Colon family are painted in all their shades of complexity; Esperanza who care for her family but fritters money on fancy things, Santo who is unable to stand up to his father, Bobby & Dallas the two children (named again...for the TV show) who have to adjust to growing up in their complicated neighbourhood and Don Chan, orphan-turned-revolutionary left with his memories in his old age. The only character I felt was slightly underdeveloped was Mirabel, she's important to the novel for many reasons, and her presence has a hint of magical realism about it but I didn't feel close enough to understand her motivations (view spoiler).
Every place also feels vividly drawn; every scene that Cruz described I felt I could see as I was reading. I also felt that the amount of issues she tackles her; from Dominican history, what the 'right' way of responding to government is to debt and low-income working, to young pregnancy and crime; didn't feel excessive or eye-roll inducing. Instead, it felt entirely possible that these issues could touch and circle the family.
I think I may have found a new favourite author in Cruz and I'm excited to read her other two novels.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Death, Dementia, Murder, War, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Grief and Gun violence