Review: Of Women and Salt

The Book:  Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia

Guest Review by Meghan Ireland

The Blurb:  A daughter's fateful choice, a mother motivated by her own past, and a family legacy that begins in Cuba before either of them were born

In present-day Miami, Jeanette is battling addiction. Daughter of Carmen, a Cuban immigrant, she is determined to learn more about her family history from her reticent mother and makes the snap decision to take in the daughter of a neighbor detained by ICE. Carmen, still wrestling with the trauma of displacement, must process her difficult relationship with her own mother while trying to raise a wayward Jeanette. Steadfast in her quest for understanding, Jeanette travels to Cuba to see her grandmother and reckon with secrets from the past destined to erupt.

(partial blurb courtesy of GoodReads)

The Review:  

This is a captivating novel that is woven across time, cultures, and borders. Ms. Garcia transports the reader effortlessly from an 1866 Cuban cigar plantation to a modern immigrant detention center in Texas, to a daring border crossing with her lush, direct narrative. 

In just 204 pages, she manages to fully flesh out the complicated, heroic, and tragic lives of Cuban and Mexican immigrant women. Each chapter is from a different character’s viewpoint, or a different moment in time. This structure provides the reader with the whole story, so the emotional impact packs a greater wallop!

Ms. Garcia provides stark tidbits of Cuban history, the deplorable treatment of Mexican immigrants, and encapsulates how the secrets women need to keep shape the lives of their daughters. It also ends on the glorious premise that life comes full circle!

Pick up at copy on Amazon or Indiebound.

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