#picador

Currently reading The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue. I am around 100 pages in, and so far I am really enjoying it. There is something to be said about reading a story about the influenza pandemic while we are going through the coronavirus pandemic ourselves, but that does make the story more impactful. Perhaps the fact that I my parents are doctors, and I myself have volunteered at the hospital has something to do with it. It’s definitely a book that is resonating with me deeply.

I have a huge admiration for Julia, who seems to be a great nurse, and has the makings to be a great doctor one day! Is that something that might be set up to happen in the future? I guess I will have to keep reading and find out!

Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia

From 19th-century cigar factories to present-day detention centers, from Cuba to Mexico, Gabriela Garcia’s Of Women and Salt is a kaleidoscopic portrait of betrayals–personal and political, self-inflicted and those done by others-that have shaped the lives of these extraordinary women. A haunting meditation on the choices of mothers, the legacy of the memories they carry, and the tenacity of women who choose to tell their stories despite those who wish to silence them, this is more than a diaspora story; it is a story of America’s most tangled, honest, human roots.

My first book of the year, and it did not disappoint! Of Women and Salt weaves together such rich and complex stories of these women and their experiences. Drawing light on generational trauma, political conflicts, immigration and deportation, it meanders through different womens stories, across generations, and shows us just how resilient they can be. Not every character was lovable, some made bad decisions with grave outcomes, but overall they all stood on their own two feet, and left you with a lot to think about.