Las Madres: A novel

The book was written well, it definitely kept me interested. I hope the author writes a series from this book. I highly recommend!

I had a hard time separating the characters at the beginning of the book. Too many characters all at once. Also, the exchange between Luz and her parents in German and French was not translated. It was probably not an important exchange, however, I felt left out. Once past all of that, I found the story to be real and rich. As a person with Puerto Rican roots, I know these women; I’m related to them; I grew up with them. I highly recommend this book.

I loved “Las Madres:A novel” by Esmeralda Santiago. It told a heart warming and heart breaking story about a family of mothers and daughters of Puerto Rican background. The story is told from two different time periods, primarily the 1970s and 2017, alternating chapters. I myself am not Puerto Rican, but I lived in the San Juan area for several years during the earlier of the time periods set in the novel, so I was familiar with many of the places, foods, traditions, people, etc, mentioned in the story. They brought back delightful memories, and also some not so delightful memories. I was also visiting in Puerto Rico when Hurricane Irma hit, so I experienced several of the hardships many residents had to go through with both Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria as described in the novel. One thing I was disappointed about was the ending: I would have preferred more completion to the stories of the characters, how they dealt with the aftermath of the truths revealed to them; I know I can infer what happened, but I would have liked to have known how the author felt about the next steps in their lives. All in all, the novel is dear to my heart.

Very well written and “Boricua por siempre y para siempre”🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷Such awesome details on our culture, our language will recommend the book 100%

It is a great book that delves into love, trauma, and loss. This book feels real. You want there to be happy endings, but sometimes that isn't the case. Still, we must push forward and not take what we do have for granted.I also loved how it informed me more about Puerto Rico's history, culture, struggles & resiliency.