Esmeralda Santiago

[The author's] story begins in rural Puerto Rico, where her warring parents and seven siblings led a life of uproar, but one full of love and tenderness as well. Growing up, Esmeralda learned the proper way to eat a guava, the sound of the tree frogs in the mango groves at night, the taste of the delectable sausage called morcilla, and the formula for ushering a dead baby's soul to heaven. But just when Esmeralda seemed to have learned everything,...

The acclaimed author of When I Was Puerto Rican continues the enchanting chronicle of her life. Emigrating from rural Puerto Rico to live in a tenement with seven (eventually ten) siblings, an inquisitive grandmother, and a strict mother who won't allow her to date, "Negi", 13, is ready to spread her wings. She yearns for her own bed, for privacy, and for her father, who stayed in Puerto Rica. When she starts to defy her mother, she discovers the...

America as seen through the eyes of a Puerto Rican maid. She is America Gonzalez, brought over by a Westchester, New York, couple who met her in a hotel in Puerto Rico where she was a cleaner. A novel filled with insights and observations by the author of When I Was Puerto Rican.

La historia de Esmeralda Santiago comienza en la parte rural de Puerto Rico, donde sus padres y siete hermanos, en continuas luchas los unos con los otros, vivian una vida alborotada pero llena de amor y ternura. De nina, Esmeralda aprendio a apreciar como se come una guayaba, a distinguir la cancion del coqui, a identificar los ingredientes en las morcillas y a ayudar a que el alma de un bebe muerto subiero al cielo. Pero precisamente cuando Esmeralda...

La historia de Esmeralda Santiago comienza en la parte rural de Puerto Rico, donde sus padres y siete hermanos, en continuas luchas los unos con los otros, vivian una vida alborotada pero llena de amor y ternura. De nina, Esmeralda aprendio a apreciar como se come una guayaba, a distinguir la cancion del coqui, a identificar los ingredientes en las morcillas y a ayudar a que el alma de un bebe muerto subiero al cielo. Pero precisamente cuando Esmeralda...

"A powerful novel of family, race, faith, sex, and disaster that moves between Puerto Rico and The Bronx, revealing the lives and loves of five women and the secret that binds them together"-- They refer to themselves as "las Madres," a close-knit group of women who, with their daughters, have created a family based on friendship and blood ties.Their story begins in Puerto Rico in 1975 when fifteen-year-old Luz, the tallest girl in her dance academy...

"A powerful novel of family, race, faith, sex, and disaster that moves between Puerto Rico and The Bronx, revealing the lives and loves of five women and the secret that binds them together"-- Se hacen llamar "Las Madres", un grupo muy cercano de mujeres que, junto con sus hijas, han creado una familia basada en la amistad y los lazos de sangre. Su historia comienza en Puerto Rico, en 1975, cuando Luz, de quince años, la niña más alta en su academia...

While preparing for Christmas in Puerto Rico, seven-year-old Esmeralda asks the Three Magi for a baby doll like her cousin's, but when they bring something else instead she gains a deeper understanding of the meaning of the holiday.

With 21 years and full of dreams that extend beyond the tight limits of the apartment of her family, Esmerelda undertakes a romance with Ulvi Dogan, a Turk 17 years older than she. Living in different parts of the country, Esmerelda discovers that Ulvi wants total control on her actions. Finally, after deciding to enter Harvard, Esmerelda realizes that is an chance to escape from the control of Ulvi and of embrace the future that she has desired. Con...