Of Women and Salt

by Garbriela Garcia

Goodreads Description:

A daughter’s fateful choice, a mother motivated by her own past, and a family legacy that begins in Cuba before either of them were born

In present-day Miami, Jeanette is battling addiction. Daughter of Carmen, a Cuban immigrant, she is determined to learn more about her family history from her reticent mother and makes the snap decision to take in the daughter of a neighbor detained by ICE. Carmen, still wrestling with the trauma of displacement, must process her difficult relationship with her own mother while trying to raise a wayward Jeanette. Steadfast in her quest for understanding, Jeanette travels to Cuba to see her grandmother and reckon with secrets from the past destined to erupt.

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.

Helen says: 🤓🤓🤓

The author packed a lot of heavy subject matter into this book. Told in vignettes, it was a generational family saga sweeping from 1860’s Cuba to present day. I don’t think I gave this book a fair enough chance because I was sick of family strife and sadness by the time I picked up this fourth book of the month. Also, it was a little too political for me. Positive notes- It was beautifully written in an almost poetic writing style.

Holly says: 🤓🤓🤓3/4

Lots of mother-daughter drama in this one. Fierce, strong women who are determined to do what is best and right, even though what often appears to be best and right is not necessarily so. A well-written, lovely story – almost an all female tale of Cuban immigration with some familiarities to American Dirt and The Four Winds. A shorter tale, but also very moving. There are quite a few interwoven characters with similar names – the glossary of names is definitely helpful.

Click here to purchase this book.