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A review by gurofl
Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
The audio book ended with a conversation between the author and one of her former professors, and they mention that this book started from a set of short stories from her thesis. It shows. There are so many characters and different story lines here. Even though they tie into each other, I felt like the El Salvador story didn't fit into the Cuba story. It did serve the purpose of showing how different immigration stories to the US can be.
And that's another thing: I thought I was reading a book about Cuba. About women living during different times in Cuba, and the latest generation growing up in Miami and her time learning about her family's history in Cuba. But there was very little about the first generations (there was actually six, not five, but one (Dolores' mother) wasn't even mentioned). The main themes of the book were about the mother and daughter of the last two generations and of the family from El Salvador, their relationships, and the different hardships they went through.
And the women being linked through the generations by the secrets they share? Well, I don't know about the first generations. Dolores, Carmen and Jeanette have secrets that are really heavy, and they don't communicate well because of them. But I expected something that started in the first generation, and that affected all the women in the generations to come.
Not really what I was looking for. The book wasn't bad, but not very good either, and the 3 stars reflect my enjoyment of the book. Just OK.
And that's another thing: I thought I was reading a book about Cuba. About women living during different times in Cuba, and the latest generation growing up in Miami and her time learning about her family's history in Cuba. But there was very little about the first generations (there was actually six, not five, but one (Dolores' mother) wasn't even mentioned). The main themes of the book were about the mother and daughter of the last two generations and of the family from El Salvador, their relationships, and the different hardships they went through.
And the women being linked through the generations by the secrets they share? Well, I don't know about the first generations. Dolores, Carmen and Jeanette have secrets that are really heavy, and they don't communicate well because of them. But I expected something that started in the first generation, and that affected all the women in the generations to come.
Not really what I was looking for. The book wasn't bad, but not very good either, and the 3 stars reflect my enjoyment of the book. Just OK.