First published 2003
Lydia Espana once lived a comfortable life in Cuba, but now she scrubs floors and dusts furniture in Manhattan apartments. Each day she enters the private worlds of her wealthy clients, observing their secrets while they remain oblivious to her own story of loss and displacement. Lydia carries memories of her former prosperity even as she navigates the practical demands of her new reality. Her work brings her into contact with people whose problems seem trivial compared to what she has endured, yet she finds unexpected connections in the most unlikely places. The city pulses around her with both opportunity and indifference. Hijuelos reveals how immigration demands a constant negotiation between holding onto the past and embracing an uncertain future. Lydia's daily encounters illuminate the distance between the American dream and the American experience for those who arrive with everything to rebuild.
Genres: american-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Cuba, Manhattan
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
352 pages · Paperback · Harper Perennial