by Angie Cruz
First published 2019
Ana Cancion accepts Juan Ruiz's marriage proposal not for love but for opportunity. At fifteen, she trades her Dominican countryside home for a frigid Washington Heights apartment on New Year's Day 1965. Juan is twice her age. Their union serves as her family's immigration pathway to America. Trapped in the sixth floor walkup, Ana grows desperate enough to plan her escape. At the bus terminal, Cesar intervenes. Juan's younger brother convinces her to remain in the city. When political chaos erupts back in the Dominican Republic, Juan departs to safeguard family property. Cesar stays behind as Ana's guardian. Freedom arrives unexpectedly. Ana enrolls in English classes at a neighborhood church. She discovers Coney Island's shoreline and Radio City's grandeur. Dancing with Cesar opens her eyes to different possibilities. Juan's return forces Ana into an impossible choice between family obligation and personal desire.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, forced-proximity, second-chance
Setting: Dominican Republic, Washington Heights, Coney Island
Period: 1965
320 pages · Kindle Edition · Flatiron Books
Content warnings: anxiety, depression, emotional-abuse