Dominicana by Angie Cruz

Dominicana by Angie Cruz | Published September 3rd 2019 by Flatiron Books |  323 Pages | Goodreads

✅ REVIEW

This was a captivating and emotional story. The main character, Ana Cancion, gets married at fifteen to Juan Ruiz in the Dominican Republic. The day after the wedding, he takes her to Washington Heights, NY to start their new life. From this unfamiliar and scary city, Ana narrates her life in the U.S.

The author did a great job with the characters, Ana narrates her surroundings so vividly that is easy to picture her apartment, the meals she cooks, the smells, the setting. The novel is about marriage, family duty, the immigrant experience, and new beginnings.

Overall, I enjoyed it and recommend it!

✅ PUBLISHER’S DESCRIPTION

“Fifteen-year-old Ana Cancion never dreamed of moving to America, the way the girls she grew up with in the Dominican countryside did. But when Juan Ruiz proposes and promises to take her to New York City, she has to say yes. It doesn’t matter that he is twice her age, that there is no love between them. Their marriage is an opportunity for her entire close-knit family to eventually immigrate. So on New Year’s Day, 1965, Ana leaves behind everything she knows and becomes Ana Ruiz, a wife confined to a cold six-floor walk-up in Washington Heights. Lonely and miserable, Ana hatches a reckless plan to escape. But at the bus terminal, she is stopped by Cesar, Juan’s free-spirited younger brother, who convinces her to stay.

As the Dominican Republic slides into political turmoil, Juan returns to protect his family’s assets, leaving Cesar to take care of Ana. Suddenly, Ana is free to take English lessons at a local church, lie on the beach at Coney Island, see a movie at Radio City Music Hall, go dancing with Cesar, and imagine the possibility of a different kind of life in America. When Juan returns, Ana must decide once again between her heart and her duty to her family.”

✅ BOOK SOURCE AND FORMAT

Loan from Miami-Dade’s Library Overdrive, audiobook