"If she could have written more things she would have: how we do things we do not mean; we do evil things; if we see an open door, we will dart through it, before we lose our guts, no matter who is left behind, we will move at the chance to be free."
-Mirella's thoughts, from the novel
This will likely be short since I didn't really care much for either main character nor did I identify with the setting. I am not sure why I finished the book but it seems to be a curse of mine "to finish what I start." I will give a rating of 2.
Penelope Grand, an aspiring artist without much success, moves from Pittsburgh to Brooklyn to spend more time with her ailing father, Ralph. Not only has Ralph suffered an accidental injury, he is seemingly depressed over the loss of his record shop and is drinking too much. The family home on Halsey Street is in a neighborhood being greatly changed by gentrification.
Woven into Penny's story is that of her mother, Mirella, who abandoned the family some years before. When Penny receives a letter from Mirella, now living in the Dominican Republic, seeking reconciliation, she struggles with a response.
I found both Mirella and Penny to be pretty self-absorbed which is the main reason I didn't get emotionally involved. Also the author used quite a bit of Spanish without always providing translation or even context to help with meaning.
It WAS ironic that I just saw the play "In the Heights" a couple of weeks ago and it centered around a main character longing to return to his homeland of the DR---Dominican Republic. There was Spanish spoken in the play, too, but the viewer could always get the gist. Thank goodness I enjoyed the play since I really didn't like Halsey Street.
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