Motherhood is “a constant calculation of what-if,” Garcia writes. Disparate hardships propel each of their lives, but they are linked by a shared struggle to carry on in a harsh world, whether each survives her circumstance-or not. Some novels attempt to tell a sweeping narrative only to get bogged down by a busy plot and too many characters, but despite a large cast from numerous time periods, Of Women and Salt expertly threads each woman’s story to another’s and pulls their stories taut. They are deported to Mexico with no resources and forced to start over on their own. Then Gloria is seized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Ana must reunite with her mother at a detention center in Texas. Their lives intersect with that of Gloria, an immigrant from El Salvador who hopes to give her young daughter, Ana, a better life in Miami. Jeanette has a drug addiction, is hiding a tragic secret and is desperately seeking a purpose. Later, in a wealthy suburb, Carmen tries to provide her daughter, Jeanette, with a comfortable American life. After an unstable childhood during the Cuban revolution, Carmen leaves her mother behind and immigrates to Florida. Of Women and Salt tells the intertwined stories of women in two families from the 19th century to the present day. In her beautifully written debut, Gabriela Garcia presents a new classic of mother-daughter literature. The relationship between mothers and daughters is a richly mined topic in fiction.
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