{"title":"Books by Angie Cruz","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781399806893","title":"How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Cruz once again offers a fresh glimpse of immigration, womanhood, aspiration and gentrification . . . told in Cara's unfailingly frank, sometimes hilarious, voice' \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWrite this down: Cara Romero wants to work.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Cara left the Dominican Republic for America, she thought she would work at the factory of little lamps for the rest of her life. But when the Great Recession hits, she is left unemployed and struggling with the rising rent. To survive, Cara must start again.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  Set up with a job counsellor, Cara's future is to be determined through forms and questionnaires. But answer boxes can't contain her indomitable personality and tempestuous past, and over the course of twelve sessions we learn of her scandals and struggles, hopes and heartbreaks, why she came to America and what really happened to her son.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cb\u003eWhen everything is lost, sometimes the only way forward is to go back to the start. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57697060651381,"sku":"9781399806916","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":43128731599026,"sku":"9781399806893","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399806916.jpg?v=1793083649"},{"product_id":"9781529304886","title":"Dominicana","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2020\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A story for now, an important story . . . told with incredible freshness' Martha Lane Fox, Chair of Judges, Women's Prize 2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe harsh reality of immigration is balanced with a refreshing dose of humour' \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis compassionate and ingenious novel has an endearing vibrancy in the storytelling that, page after page, makes it addictive reading' \u003ci\u003eIrish Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eEngrossing . . . the story itself and Ana, the protagonist are terrifically interesting. Loved this' Roxane Gay\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'This book is a valentine to my mom and all the unsung Dominicanas like her, for their quiet heroism in making a better life for their families, often at a hefty cost to themselves. Even if \u003ci\u003eDominicana \u003c\/i\u003eis a Dominican story, it's also a New York story, and an immigrant story. When I read parts of Dominicana at universities and literary venues both here and abroad, each time, audience members from all cultures and generations came up to me and said, this is my mother's story, my sister's story, my story' Angie Cruz\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFifteen-year-old Ana Canción 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 must 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 César, Juan's free-spirited younger brother, who convinces her to stay.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs the Dominican Republic slides into political turmoil, Juan returns to protect his family's assets, leaving César to take care of Ana. Suddenly, Ana is free to take English lessons at a local church, lie on the beach at Coney Island, dance with César at the Audubon Ballroom, 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn bright, musical prose that reflects the energy of New York City, \u003ci\u003eDominicana \u003c\/i\u003eis a vital portrait of the immigrant experience and the timeless coming-of-age story of a young woman finding her voice in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43204671602866,"sku":"9781529304886","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57697031651701,"sku":"9781529304879","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781529304886.jpg?v=1793083512"},{"product_id":"9781529359756","title":"Soledad","description":"'Nobody's ever really given us such a revealing look at New York's Dominican population before . . . Cruz, in this determinedly real yet often magical novel, offers canny insights into family life' LA TimesAt eighteen, Soledad couldn't get away fast enough from her contentious family with their endless tragedies and petty fights. Two years later, she's an art student at Cooper Union with a gallery job and a hip East Village walk-up. But when Tía Gorda calls with the news that Soledad's mother has lapsed into an emotional coma, she insists that Soledad's return is the only cure. Fighting the memories of open hydrants, leering men, and slick-skinned teen girls with raunchy mouths and snapping gum, Soledad moves home to West 164th Street. As she tries to tame her cousin Flaca's raucous behaviour and to resist falling for Richie - a soulful, intense man from the neighbourhood - she also faces the greatest challenge of her life: confronting the ghosts from her mother's past and salvaging their damaged relationship.   Evocative and wise, Soledad is a wondrous story of culture and chaos, family and integrity, myth and mysticism, from a Latina literary light.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43204681203890,"sku":"9781529359756","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781529359756_7eb1cf9c-5a5e-4bbe-9e8a-382f5da184f2.jpg?v=1786023116"},{"product_id":"9781644210703","title":"Dominicana","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eUna extraordinaria novela de iniciación sobre una mujer joven que encuentra su voz en el mundo ahora en una edición en Español. \/ \u003c\/i\u003eAn extraordinary coming-of-age story of a young woman finding her voice in the world, now in a Spanish language edition. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEl ú\u003ci\u003eltimo día de 1964, la quinceañera Ana Canción se casa con Juan Ruiz, un hombre veinte años mayor que ella, en el campo dominicano. Al día siguiente se vuelve Ana Ruiz, una esposa confinada a un apartamento de un cuarto en Washington Heights. Juan la engaña, abusa y controla, hasta le prohíbe aprender inglés. Después de un intento fallido de fuga, Ana se entera de que está embarazada. Su madre y su esposo comparan su embarazo a ganar la lotería, su niña tendrá ciudadanía estadounidense. Juan vuelve a la República Dominicana cuando la guerra civil comienza, dejando a César, su hermano, cuidando a Ana. Durante ese descanso del confinamiento ella se enamora genuinamente, lo cual despierta su voluntad de pelear por independizarse de su abusador y por su derecho de permanecer en su patria adoptiva. Un retrato atemporal de feminidad y ciudadanía, que sigue vigente en esta época de migración forzada.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eOn the last day of 1964, fifteen-year-old Ana Canción marries Juan Ruiz, a man twice her age, in the Dominican countryside. The following day she becomes Ana Ruiz, a wife confined to a one-bedroom in Washington Heights. Juan is unfaithful, abusive, and controlling, he even forbids her from learning English. After a failed escape, Ana learns she is pregnant. Both her mother and husband compare her pregnancy to winning the lottery, her child will have American citizenship. Juan returns briefly to the Dominican Republic when the civil war begins, leaving César, his brother, to care for Ana. During that respite from confinement she experiences true love, which awakens her will to fight for independence from her abuser and for the right to stay in her adopted homeland. A timeless portrait of womanhood and citizenship, which rings true in this era of forced migration.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56302634566005,"sku":"9781644210703","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781644210703_8ec6b5f1-5813-4ac0-a4e4-833d2e8d0ad7.jpg?v=1786024234"},{"product_id":"9781529359770","title":"Let it Rain Coffee","description":"\u003cp\u003eEsperanza risked her life fleeing the Dominican Republic for the glittering dream she saw on television but years later she is still stuck in a cramped tenement with her husband, Santo, and their two children, Bobby and Dallas. She works as a home help and, at night, hides unopened bills from the credit card company where Santo won't find them when he returns from driving his minicab. When Santo's mother dies and his father, Don Chan, comes to Nueva York to live out his twilight years with the Colóns, nothing will ever be the same. Don Chan remembers fighting together with Santo in the revolution against Trujillo's cruel regime, the promise of who his son might have been, had he not fallen under Esperanza's spell. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLet it Rain Coffee\u003c\/i\u003e is a sweeping novel about love, loss, family, and the elusive nature of memory and desire.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56303572877685,"sku":"9781529359770","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781529359770_c26c3c7c-5b35-4207-8515-62916d4def55.jpg?v=1786023117"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-angie-cruz.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}