America's Dream [Paperback]

Esmeralda Santiago (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 1997

América Gonzalez is a hotel housekeeper on an island off the coast of Puerto Rico, cleaning up after wealthy foreigners who don't look her In the eye. Her alcoholic mother resents her; her married boyfriend, Correa, beats her; and their fourteen-year-old daughter thinks life would be better anywhere but with América. So when América is offered the chance to work as alive-in housekeeper and nanny for a family in Westchester County, New York, she takes it as a sign that a door to escape has been opened. Yet even as América revels in the comparative luxury of her new life, daring to care about a man other than Correa, she is faced with dramatic proof that no matter what she does, she can't get away from her past.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

America Gonzalez has more than her share of concerns. She is a hotel housekeeper on an island off the Puerto Rican coast with an abusive lover, a drinking mother and a 14-year-old daughter who's run off with her boyfriend. So Gonzalez takes a drastic step by taking a job as a housekeeper with an affluent couple in Westchester, New York. Running away from her problems doesn't really work, though, as new worries arise and old problems rear their ugly heads. The novel is Esmeralda Santiago's second consecutive acclaimed work, following on the heels of When I Was Puerto Rican. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Santiago, author of the memoir When I Was Puerto Rican, establishes herself as a strong and irresistible new voice in fiction with this story of a Puerto Rican woman who comes to America and discovers herself. America Gonzales, 30, cleans hotel rooms on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. Her 14-year-old daughter, Rosalinda, has run away with a boyfriend, and America grieves that her daughter has not learned from her mistakes. America is, and has always been, Correa's woman, even though Correa has a wife and family a ferry ride away. Correa, the walking embodiment of blind, brutish machismo, comes to see America whenever he likes, sleeps in her bed and-as often as not-beats her. But an escape presents itself when the Leveretts, a young American couple whose kids America babysat when they stayed at the hotel, call from their Westchester home and ask her to be a nanny to their two young children. Her new life in suburbia and a tentative new love are overshadowed by the growing terror and certainty of a final reckoning with Correa. Lush descriptions of the sights, smells and sounds of the island pervade the early chapters; later, America's take on Westchester and her cousins in the Bronx is full of deliciously keen observations. As she charts America's emerging sense of self, Santiago shows us America's-and America's-life with wry insight. With its seamless construction, saucy dialect and clear prose, this novel is involving and immediate, truthful and tender. Major ad/promo; author tour; U.K. and translation rights: Aaron Priest agency; first serial and dramatic rights: Molly Friedrich.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (April 25, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060928263
• ISBN-13: 978-0060928261
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #235,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A story of Latino machismo!, May 10, 2000

By 

Hector V. Troya - See all my reviews

This review is from: America's Dream (Paperback)

I just finished reading America' Dream and I highly recommend it. The main theme of the book is spousal abuse and it's consequences. America, the main character, I think, represents the many Latinas who are victims of the old, but thriving mentality of the Latino men and culture. The book gives a pretty good feel of life in a Latin American country. It also portraits what is like to be a Latina servant in the United States. The story is a descriptive and accurate portrait of a woman's anguish and suffering, and her road to self-sufficiency. As a Latino man I was never offended by the depiction of America's nemesis her lover Correa. On the contrary, I give Esmeralda Santiago praise for daring to portrait the agony that is part of many Latinas and other women's everyday lives.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A great book that depicts the universality of women's lives, October 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: America's Dream (Paperback)

I read America's Dream over a year ago but America's story still sticks with me. As an American born citizen, I still could relate to her struggle with achieving independence in spite of all the forces that worked against her: her somewhat puzzling love for her husband in spite of his abuse; her tolerance of her mother's preoccupation with controlling her life; her struggle to influence her daughter in spite of a culture that deceives her into believing that she can gain independence through a relationship with a man. As a "professional" woman of color, I could even identify with her relationship with her employer. This is a fascinating story.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "INOLVIDABLE"{UNFORGETABLE}, September 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: America's Dream (Paperback)

As a native of Vieques, I felt especially honored that Ms. Santiago selected our Island as the location for her book. Because I frequently visit Vieques, I was able to visualize every part of the island. "America's Dream" represents women all over the country that believe that there is no way out of dificult situations. However, good or bad, America finds that you really don't have to remain in these situations. You really must have the thrive to excel and the power to succeed. Estoy muy orgullosa de usted Sra. Santiago. Me da mucha alegria de nunca olvide sus raizes. Continue con "LATINA POWER"