![]() ![]() ![]() When Ana is just 15, she marries Juan, and he takes her to the Bronx to live in his apartment with his brother César.Īna is raped on her honeymoon night, plied with alcohol so that she will succumb more easily to her husband’s advances, which is an appropriate first evening for a relationship that will become fraught with domestic violence incidents and more rape. Ana’s mother takes over the wedding preparations, advising Ana to save some money for herself to send back to her family, to learn English and make herself valuable, and to keep her husband happy, so that one day, Ana’s family may join her in the States, escaping the war-torn Dominican countryside. Ana is repulsed by Juan, who is a sloppy drunk, and does not subscribe to the fantasy of American life the way that her family does. She is 11 when Juan Ruiz proposes to her, and even though he is more than double her age, Ana’s parents are elated at the prospect, as Juan and his brothers promise to take Ana to America, which represents a ticket to freedom for her entire family. ![]() The novel centers on the perspective of a fifteen year old girl, Ana Canción, who is living in the Dominican countryside with her family when we first meet her. Dominicana is the third novel from Angie Cruz, a fictional retelling of Cruz’s mother’s journey from child bride to immigrant mother. ![]()
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