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A review by jprex
When We Were Widows by Annette Chavez Macias
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This tells the story of three generations of women in a family: matriarch Mama Melda, her daughter Ana, and Ana's daughter Yesica. Yesica is the overachieving, ambitious daughter who has no time for her mother. Ana is the sensitive mother and fully devoted daughter, while Mama Melda is the core holding their family together. Above and beyond family ties, the thread that runs through this family is one of heartache. Mama Melda's beloved husband was murdered when Ana was young. Ana's husband and Yesica's beloved father suddenly passed away five years prior. And now Yesica finds herself a widow when her husband dies in an accident six months before the events of this book. An issue in Ana's house forces the three women to live together in Yesica's home, navigating a lifetime of resentment, misunderstanding, and secrets.
Just...wow. This book is a stunning depiction of the tension that exists between mothers and daughters at all stages of life. I lost count of the number of times that I found myself reading Ana's thoughts and hearing my mother's voice, or Yesica's short-temper and impatience and hearing my own. There was a sense of martyrdom on both sides of that particular coin, with the intentional withholding of information expanding the ever-widening chasm between them. I felt a sense of guilt about my own interactions and left wanting to improve them.
I certainly identified with aspects of Yesica's personality and characterization, particularly the sense of needing to achieve and improve in every stage of life. That ever-present need to depict a calm and cool exterior despite whatever is going on around you. Proving yourself again and again, if only to yourself...
This is a beautiful story, full of emotion and love. It wasn't particularly difficult to read, but it did result in significant introspection along the way.
Just...wow. This book is a stunning depiction of the tension that exists between mothers and daughters at all stages of life. I lost count of the number of times that I found myself reading Ana's thoughts and hearing my mother's voice, or Yesica's short-temper and impatience and hearing my own. There was a sense of martyrdom on both sides of that particular coin, with the intentional withholding of information expanding the ever-widening chasm between them. I felt a sense of guilt about my own interactions and left wanting to improve them.
I certainly identified with aspects of Yesica's personality and characterization, particularly the sense of needing to achieve and improve in every stage of life. That ever-present need to depict a calm and cool exterior despite whatever is going on around you. Proving yourself again and again, if only to yourself...
This is a beautiful story, full of emotion and love. It wasn't particularly difficult to read, but it did result in significant introspection along the way.