Dominicana

Dominicana is loosely based around Angie Cruz's mother's experience of immigrating to New York in the 1960s. At its heart it is a story of immigrant women and girls from many cultures who are forced, either literally or through a powerful sense of duty, to put the potential improvements to their families' situations ahead of their own personal life wishes. Ana is just fifteen when she is married off to Juan Ruiz. She leaves home alone wearing a completely inappropriate frothy dress with a man who couldn't really care less to a ceremony that doesn't amount to anything resembling a wedding. Ana's realisation that she has been coerced into accepting a forever after that is unlikely to ever be happy is a shocking moment in her story, even more so I thought as it is obvious even her mother has chosen to believe dreams rather than acknowledge the truth of her daughter's New York adventure.

I was initially quite irritated by Ana because she is so incredibly passive. This isn't especially a 'cultural thing' I don't think because Ana's older sister chose an alternative course for herself, but Ana's lack of self-determination is exploited by her family. They see her as their only chance to abandon Dominican Republic poverty for American affluence and the Ruiz brothers' flash behaviour only serves to perpetuate the myth that easy lives are just there for the taking in New York. If the brothers had been honest about their struggles in the city, Ana could have had very different prospects.

Dominicana grew on me as a novel the more I read. I never actively disliked reading it, but did find the first quarter or so less gripping than I expected. Perhaps all the chatter and hype last year had unfairly elevated my expectations. Once Ana begins to believe in herself however, I was gripped and couldn't read fast enough!