Olga Dies Dreaming
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
'Deeply satisfying and nuanced . . . a tender exploration of love in its many forms' Observer
'Gonzalez couples engrossing political intrigue with engagingly flawed characters you can't help but root for' Mail on Sunday
It's 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro 'Prieto' Acevedo, are bold-faced names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular congressman representing their gentrifying, Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn, while Olga is the tony wedding planner for Manhattan's power brokers.
Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy. Sure, Olga can orchestrate the love stories of the one percent, but she can't seem to find her own . . . until she meets Matteo, who forces her to confront the effects of long-held family secrets.
Twenty-seven years ago, their mother, Blanca, a Young Lord-turned-radical, abandoned her children to advance a militant political cause, leaving them to be raised by their grandmother. Now, with the winds of hurricane season, Blanca has come barreling back into their lives.
Set against the backdrop of New York City in the months surrounding the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico's history, Olga Dies Dreaming is a story that examines political corruption, familial strife and the very notion of the American dream - all while asking what it really means to weather a storm.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gonzalez's edifying debut follows a successful Puerto Rican Brooklynite with family baggage that increasingly disrupts her life. Olga, 40, a wedding planner and frequent guest on morning TV shows, rubs shoulders—and sometimes more—with her wealthy, powerful clients. Her older brother, Prieto, who is secretly gay, has risen through the local political ranks to become a U.S. congressman who represents their Sunset Park neighborhood. The siblings' beloved papí, once a charismatic activist for Puerto Rican independence, fell into heroin addiction and died when Olga was still a teen, and their mamí remained true to the cause, leaving her children to work with a covert paramilitary group. Olga does not know, but Prieto has been the victim of blackmail for years by a couple of real estate moguls with whom she is acquainted, who've made a killing off their Puerto Rican community in Brooklyn. Details about their papí's life and tragic death, as well as his blackmailers' sinister intentions in Puerto Rico, add poignancy to Prieto's troubles, and each sibling faces a crisis of conscience when Hurricane Maria hits and their mamí issues a dubious ultimatum. The expository dialogue often feels stilted, but the characters' yearning to see the island thrive adds passion and complexity. Gonzalez elevates this family drama with a great deal of insight on the characters' diaspora and politics.
