Introduction

América Gonzalez is a hotel housekeeper on an island off the coast of Puerto Rico, cleaning up after wealthy foreigners who don't look her In the eye. Her alcoholic mother resents her; her married boyfriend, Correa, beats her; and their fourteen-year-old daughter thinks life would be better anywhere but with América. So when América is offered the chance to work as alive-in housekeeper and nanny for a family in Westchester County, New York, she takes it as a sign that a door to escape has been opened. Yet even as América revels in the comparative luxury of her new life, daring to care about a man other than Correa, she is faced with dramatic proof that no matter what she does, she can't get away from her past.

Editorial Review

America Gonzalez has more than her share of concerns. She is a hotel housekeeper on an island off the Puerto Rican coast with an abusive lover, a drinking mother and a 14-year-old daughter who's run off with her boyfriend. So Gonzalez takes a drastic step by taking a job as a housekeeper with an affluent couple in Westchester, New York. Running away from her problems doesn't really work, though, as new worries arise and old problems rear their ugly heads. The novel is Esmeralda Santiago's second consecutive acclaimed work, following on the heels of When I Was Puerto Rican.

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