Let It Rain Coffee: A Novel [Hardcover]

Angie Cruz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 26, 2005

Angie Cruz has established herself as a dazzling new voice in Latin American fiction, her writing compared to Gabriel García Márquez's by The Boston Globe. Now, with humor, passion, and intensity, she reveals the proud members of the Colón family and the dreams, love, and heartbreak that bind them to their past and the future.

Esperanza risked her life fleeing the Dominican Republic for the glittering dream she saw on television, but years later she is still stuck in a cramped tenement with her husband, Santo, and their two children, Bobby and Dallas. She works as a home aide and, at night, hides unopened bills from the credit card company where Santo won't find them when he returns from driving his livery cab.

When Santo's mother dies and his father, Don Chan, comes to Nueva York to live out his twilight years with the Colóns, nothing will ever be the same. Don Chan remembers fighting together with Santo in the revolution against Trujillo's cruel regime, the promise of who his son might have been, had he not fallen under Esperanza's spell.

Let It Rain Coffee is a sweeping novel about love, loss, family, and the elusive nature of memory and desire.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An immigrant family is tested by a series of problems in this unsentimental American dream story by Cruz (Soledad). Heavily influenced by American television, Esperanza Colón finally has enough money in her secret savings to flee the Dominican Republic for New York, where she is joined eventually by her husband, Santo, and their two children, Bobby and Dallas. Ten years after they arrive, Santo's widowed father, Don Chan, joins the crowded household. Don Chan was always disappointed that his son married the daughter of supporters of the brutal dictator Rafael Trujillo; he preferred Miraluz Natera, whose passion for change after Trujillo's assassination equaled his own, and in New York Don Chan is seized by nostalgia for his political past in the Dominican Republic. When Santo is murdered in his cab, things begin to go downhill for the family: Don Chan loses his grip on the present; Dallas, with her neighborhood friend Hush, navigates the tricky waters of adolescence; Bobby inadvertently becomes involved in a shooting and is sent to a juvenile detention facility. When yet another tragedy occurs, they all return to the island, and each family member finds some measure of peace. Without a familiarity with Dominican Republic political history and a smattering of Spanish, the events of the novel can be hard to follow; but Cruz's unvarnished, sympathetic account of immigrant struggles suggests she is a writer worth watching. Agent, Ellen Levine. (May)
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Review

"She is a writer of grace and true grit, an uncommon and laudable combination of gifts."

-- Susan Thomas, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Angie Cruz's Let It Rain Coffee is a stunning sweep of history, memory, and fantasy that demonstrates a talent unmatched by any other young writer."

-- El Paso Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (April 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743212037
• ISBN-13: 978-0743212038
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,246,440 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book, but you must know your history before reading it..., September 18, 2005

By 

Victoria Eiland "KnitWit" (Albany, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Let It Rain Coffee: A Novel (Hardcover)

Before reading this review, you really must learn something about the history of the Dominican Republic. The majority of the flashbacks concerned the Presidency of Trujillo, but there are other aspect of the country's history that are essential to understanding the story. Also, if your Spanish is as bad as mine, you might not know the exact meaning of about 10% of the dialogue, but you can pick it up within the context. Do not let that scare you off from this amazing book. I just finished it in a 4 hour reading spurt and really and truly felt as if I had been caught completely within the Colon family.

*****Spoiler: Santo, Don Chan's son, dies very early in the book, but his death is pivotal to the story*****

The majority of the book revolves around Esperanza and Don Chan, their fractured relationship, and its impact on Bobby and Dallas, Esperanza and Santo's children. Don Chan joins the family in New York shortly after his wife dies in the Dominican Republic. Don Chan and Esperanza have never seen eye-to-eye, as Esperanza remembers the Dominican Republic (the D.R.) as a dirty, foul, poor country to attempt to scratch out a living. She is addicted to the drama "Dallas," and is determined to live the life of the Ewings. To that end, she is is ducking calls from collection agencies about her credit card bills and working double shifts as a home-care nurse in order to make ends meet and provide for the family. To do so, she must leave her children in the care of her father-in-law, Don Chan, who is elderly and beginning to suffer from Alzheimer's.

Don Chan, on the other hand, remembers the DR as a country of promise and expectation, especially after the fall of Trujillo. During Trujillo's reign, Don Chan was an "Invisible," working underground against Trujillo and his regime. But when Trujillo is killed and Dona Caridad dies, Don Chan loses his will to fight, preferring to impart his wisdom on the next generation and wonder about what could have been. Left to care for his grandchildren, he laments Santo's death and the fact that Santo chose to follow Esperanza to New York rather than work for change in the DR.

As the book progresses, Santo's death creates new meaning for all the members of the Colon family, the realization that they must stop believing that life owes them something (whether it is an 8-bedroom ranch, a leather jacket, or a democratic government) and instead embrace life as an opportunity, a chance to change their situations and embrace the future. This realization is hardest for Esperanza, as she has lived all her life with the goal of being just like the Ewings (off "Dallas") but when she comes face-to-face with J.R. Ewing, she finally begin to see life as it is instead of the way she always assumed it would be handed to her. Her actions and behavior sets the stage for the final, moving pages of the book, were it becomes clear that Santo's death, more than his life, has finally inspired his family to move forward and change their lives.

I can't write much more without giving away the entire book, but I can say that for every student of Latin American culture, this book should be required reading. Angie Cruz should be commended for this excellent addition to the fiction bookshelves, not just the Latin American fiction bookshelves.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, July 6, 2006

By 

F. Achecar - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Let It Rain Coffee: A Novel (Hardcover)

As one of the other reviewers I also got this book for my yearly trip to the Dominican Rep. this past Christmas. I began reading it on the plane there and finished it as the plane landed back in NY. This book held my attention, was interesting, made me cry and just feel proud that it was writing not just by a woman but a Dominican woman. Angie is a great writer with a lot of promise. Very different from Soledad but just as thought provoking. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future. Keep on with the good job!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read...!, November 14, 2005

By 

Ileana M. Infante (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Let It Rain Coffee: A Novel (Hardcover)

I saved this book to read on the sandy beaches of the Dominican Republic - a perfect backdrop to this wonderful book set in the Dominican Republic and New York City. I savored every page and read it in two days while I "baked" in the Carribean sun. As a reader, I was immediately embraced by the Santo family. El Señor Chan, Santo, Esperanza, and her children face enormous personal, emotional, and economic challenges as they struggle to make a better life. A great read...a unique perspective of the Dominican-immigrant experience!