How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (Essential Edition): (Plume… (original 1991; edition 2005)

Some parts were better than others. It would be good for someone who has no idea of life in the Dominican Republic and what it is like in America for Dominican Americans. ( )

Eh. I didn't really feel like they were exiled or in any extenuating circumstances. I never felt very connected to the characters either. Disappointed. ( )

one of the best books i read in college, made me read all of her others ( )

More than just a novel about immigrating (and returning home) -- this is a literary exploration of language and family and identity. ( )

Four young sisters and their parents flee the corrupt regime ruling their small Caribbean island and relocate in the US. In separate chapters the four sisters, now a psychologist, an artist, a poet and a young mother, recount memories from their early years on the island and their sometimes harsh transition into American society. The chapters are interesting on their own and almost take on the flare of short essays, but digesting the book as a whole feels a little like reading through a strobe light. Although you know action is happening between the flashes, you only get glimpses of brilliance with dark spaces in between. Overall, the book was enjoyable and I'm sure many young women, especially immigrants, would relate to Alvarez' work, but I have to say I feel it could have been so much more. Bottom Line: Good, but not great. ( )