The Aguero Sisters (Ballantine Reader's Circle) [Paperback]

Cristina Garcia (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ballantine Reader's Circle | Publication Date: April 20, 1998

Reina and Constancia Agüero are Cuban sisters who have been estranged for thirty years. Reina--tall, darkly beautiful, and magnetically sexual--still lives in her homeland. Once a devoted daughter of la revolución, she now basks in the glow of her many admiring suitors, believing only in what she can grasp with her five senses. The pale and very petite Constancia lives in the United States, a beauty expert who sees miracles and portents wherever she looks. After she and her husband retire to Miami, she becomes haunted by the memory of her parents and the unexplained death of her beloved mother so long ago.

Told in the stirring voices of their parents, their daughters, and themselves, The Agüero Sisters tells a mesmerizing story about the power of myth to mask, transform, and finally, reveal the truth--as two women move toward an uncertain, long awaited reunion.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In this novel of family history and myth, Christina Garcia gives us Reina and Constancia Aguero, sisters who grew up in Cuba, but who haven't talked in thirty years--not since Constancia snuck out of Cuba and crossed the water to the United States, where she assimilated into her adopted country's culture as completely and deeply as she could. The beautiful and charismatic Reina, meanwhile, stayed in Cuba where she became a skilled electrician and a staunch supporter of la revolucion. The long-estranged sisters are finally heading toward a reunion, and as they come together their own stories and the legacy of their scientist-parents is told and retold in an elegantly written novel that investigates the several natures of identity--personal, familial, and even national. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Garcia's magisterial new work opens with a murder: in Cuba's shimmering Zapata Swamp, Blanca Aguero turns in time to see her naturalist husband, Ignacio, point a gun at her and pull the trigger. At the heart of the novel that then unfolds are the two daughters of the ill-fated couple: sensuous, statuesque Reina, a master electrician who cheerfully serves the revolution until a certain inexplicable restlessness?and a nasty encounter with lightning?send her into exile, and the carefully preserved Constancia, who hates leaving New York for Miami when her timid husband retires but whose homemade Cuerpo de Cuba emollients really take off. Constancia has a problem, though; one morning, she awakens not with her face but her long-dead mother's, a reminder that we carry with us?indeed, we are?our past. Ultimately, this is less a novel about two sisters than an evocation of Cuba itself. In less capable hands, the richly imagined details would swamp the sense of story, but Garcia (Dreaming in Cuban, LJ 3/1/92) shapes her material beautifully, keeping the reader with her until the end. Highly recommended.
-?Barbara Hoffert, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 2nd edition (April 20, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345406516
• ISBN-13: 978-0345406514
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #84,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

NOTE TO READERS: If you'd like your copy of The Lady Matador's Hotel signed and/or dedicated, please message me through my website and I'll let you know where to send the book(s). Book clubs welcome! Return postage on me. Ole!

Cristina García is the author of five novels: Dreaming in Cuban, The Agüero Sisters, Monkey Hunting, A Handbook to Luck, and The Lady Matador's Hotel.
García has edited two anthologies, Cubanísimo: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Cuban Literature and Bordering Fires: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Mexican and Chicano/a Literature. Two works for young readers, The Dog Who Loved the Moon, and I Wanna Be Your Shoebox were published in 2008. A collection of poetry, The Lesser Tragedy of Death, was recently published by Akashic Press. Her new young adult novel, Dreams of Significant Girls, will be published in July 2011.

García's work has been nominated for a National Book Award and translated into a dozen languages. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Writers' Award, a Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University, and an NEA grant, among others. She has taught literature and writing at numerous universities and divides her time between Texas and northern New Mexico. Please visit her website at www.cristinagarcianovelist.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written and superbly told story, May 22, 2000

By 

C. Colt "It Just Doesn't Matter" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Aguero Sisters (Ballantine Reader's Circle) (Paperback)

More than a year ago, my father pulled a book from his shelf and read the first chapter aloud to me. The book was "The Aguero Sisters" and the chapter was completely captivating in its richness of language, its evocative prose, and in the tremendous curiosity it instilled in me about what why certain events occurred and what would happen next. I went on to read the book and absolutely loved it.

"The Aguero Sisters" is several stories interwoven into one. It is a love story, and a mystery of sorts. It is a story of generation and cultural differences and of the strange emotional contradictions felt between siblings. Most importantly, it is a story with rhythm, energy, and touches of dark humor.

There are so many different reasons why people should read this book and none of them are political. Of course it deals with Cuban politics, but it does so in an irreverent and humorous fashion. The most political characters in this book appear to be caricatures while the least political ones are the most compelling.

I have read books with similar themes such as "The Woman Warrior", and "The Joy Luck Club". While I learned a lot from these works and appreciated their content, it seemed that their strengths rested more on issues pertaining to ethnicity, gender, immigration, and generation differences than on any literary merit. "The Aguero Sisters" touches upon similar issues, but it also stands alone as a superb novel. I hope that in the future this book will be compared to some of the finest novels of the Twentieth Century, instead of merely being categorized as "ethnic literature".

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A haunting, mythical tale..., May 13, 2002

By 

Dianna Johnston "Compulsive Reader" (Joplin, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Aguero Sisters (Ballantine Reader's Circle) (Paperback)

The Aguero Sisters is my first book by Cristina Garcia, but I can say with confidence it won't be my last. This novel was a truly mesmerizing feat; each page a veritable feast for the senses with beautiful, rich imagery and lush details of the Cuban landscape. This book sat on my bookshelf for over two years -- and now I'm wondering what took me so long.

Mystery and mythical religion is the backdrop for Cristina Garcia's haunting and descriptive tale of The Aguero Sisters. The story opens with drama and mystery surrounding the death of Constancia and Reina's mother, Blanca. What follows are chapters told in each sister's voice -- Constancia, a successful cosmetics entrepreneur, who lives in Miami with her husband Heberto -- and Reina, an electrician, whose skills are in high demand all over Cuba. Each sister gives details of their lives, their feelings about their mother's unexpected death, and the background of their estrangement from each other. Also in the mix are chapters from Constancia and Reina's children as well as the family history told by the sisters' deceased father, Ignacio. And as the months pass by, each sister gets closer and closer to each other and learning the truth about their mother.

The Aguero Sisters is a beautiful and haunting tale about growing up in Cuba in the midst of political upheaval, their struggles in trying to escape, and their need for reconciliation of the past. I was captivated by the writing style and eloquent language as well as the mysterious storyline and descriptions of a country I will never get to see. Highly recommended read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rich writing develops characters, December 16, 1999

By 

Melanie Espino - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Aguero Sisters (Hardcover)

This was such an enjoyable story. The writing was so rich, it breathed. There was enough of a mystery to wonder about, but what called me to the book night after night was the great character development. I hope they never make a movie, because the images I have of all of the characters are so strong.