Customer Reviews

The Youngest Doll (Latin American Women Writers)

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I read this story in Spanish while in college, and I absolutely loved it. I believe there is a great deal of symbolism and everything is not what it seems. I think it's a strong commentary on Puerto Rican culture. (How a woman with a slight imperfection is destined to be alone; How the doctor only married the girl because of her status and displayed her, etc.) Maybe I read more into it than the author intended but it's one of my favorite stories.

This collection of short stories is so well-written that it's hard to believe it's a translation and that it wasn't crafted in English originally. The stories in this collection explore the lives of women who cannot escape the ever-present image of the doll. Young girls should play with dolls; women should look like dolls. But in these stories about life in Puerto Rico, women aren't content to just sit there and be dolls--that's where conflict and themes of gender inequality come in. These stories are as gorgeous as they are insightful. A master-class in short fiction.

If you like writers like Horacio Quiroga, you would love this book. The writer is a Puertorican woman who grew up in the 50's on the island in a wealthy family but has a different point of view on the life of the rich and the proo in Puerto Rico being overtaken by the americans who conquered and started establishing themselves on the island. Full of puerrican culture embeded in the stories it is definately a read for all of you who really want to get in touch with some heritage and be interested by a bit of weirdness.

I was somewhat lost as to what the aunt intended to do with the dolls. I mean were they given to the nieces to watch over them and protect them or were they just given to the nieces just because she loved them and wanted to give them the dolls out of love. Did she know (aunt) that the doctor was just using her for her money or did she find out when he tells his son in front of her this is how he paid his eductation. I was unsure of this I didn't know if she knew this from the beginning or found out as mentioned before.