A review by serendipitysbooks
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz

emotional funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

 
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water is the story of Cara Romero, a 56 year old woman from the Dominican Republic, who now lives in the US and needs to find work following the closure of the factory where she had worked for many years.

Cara is a fantastic character, one not quickly forgotten. She’s got a strong, opinions and a vibrant personality, has lived through some hard times and had bad things happen to her, but has also made bad decisions and hurt others. She’s clearly got a heart of gold, but her actions don’t always reflect that. She’s incredibly easy to root for, even when her behaviour is infuriating. Or worse. Over the course of the book we see Cara grow as she recognises the role she has played in fracturing some relationships, and hurting those she loves most. It’s a rewarding journey to watch, to see her recognise her problematic behaviour, sit with the pain of that, and then take positive action to improve.

The structure of this book is unique. It unfolds over the course of twelve sessions Cara is required to have with a job counsellor in order to continue receiving unemployment insurance. The book is essentially a transcript of what Cara says during each session. We never hear from the counsellor - although I get the feeling she didn’t get a lot of opportunity to say much! Cara is clearly a talker and during the sessions shares much of her life, including the ups and downs of many key relationships including with her son, her sister and her neighbour. Interspersed with these are various documents such as her steadily increasing rent bills and job questionnaires.

I listened on audio which I recommend. The audio has high production values including sound effects, making it akin to listening to an old-fashioned audio play. In addition the narrator does a fabulous job with Cara and I appreciated hearing her voice with the correct accent and intonations. Not all the documents worked so well in the audio format, but they were a much smaller part of the book than the job counselling sessions. The pros of audio far outweighed the cons - at least for me.
 
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