{"product_id":"soledad-9780743212021","title":"Soledad","description":"\u003ch2\u003eAbout Soledad\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward-winning author Angie Cruz takes readers on a journey as one young woman must confront not only her own past of growing up in Washington Heights, but also her mother's.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAt eighteen, Soledad couldn't get away fast enough from her contentious family with their endless tragedies and petty fights. Two years later, she's an art student at Cooper Union with a gallery job and a hip East Village walk-up. But when Tía Gorda calls with the news that Soledad's mother has lapsed into an emotional coma, she insists that Soledad's return is the only cure. Fighting the memories of open hydrants, leering men, and slick-skinned teen girls with raunchy mouths and snapping gum, Soledad moves home to West 164th Street. As she tries to tame her cousin Flaca's raucous behavior and to resist falling for Richie--a soulful, intense man from the neighborhood--she also faces the greatest challenge of her life: confronting the ghosts from her mother's past and salvaging their damaged relationship.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEvocative and wise, \u003ci\u003eSoledad\u003c\/i\u003e is a wondrous story of culture and chaos, family and integrity, myth and mysticism, from a Latina literary light.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy Read Soledad\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis novel explores the complexities of Dominican American identity through the lens of a young woman caught between two worlds. Set against the backdrop of Washington Heights, the story captures the tensions of family loyalty, personal ambition, and cultural heritage. Cruz's narrative weaves together themes of generational trauma, mother-daughter relationships, and the search for self in the face of family expectations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe novel follows Soledad's return to her childhood neighborhood, where she must navigate the pull of her old life while maintaining the independence she fought to achieve. Through her interactions with family members and the reappearance of Richie, Cruz explores how place and memory shape identity, and how healing requires confronting painful truths about those we love.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAngie Cruz was born and raised in the Washington Heights section of New York City. She is a graduate of SUNY Binghamton and received her MFA from New York University. Her fiction and activist work have earned her the New York Foundation of the Arts Fellowship, the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund Award, and the Bronx Writers' Center Van Lier Literary Fellowship. She is the author of \u003ci\u003eSoledad\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDominicana\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eLet It Rain Coffee\u003c\/i\u003e. She currently resides in New York City. Visit the author at AngieCruz.com.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50680723374354,"sku":"9780743212021","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_e7229bbc-a0a5-456a-98fa-4721e8e1c32d.jpg?v=1734924351","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/soledad-9780743212021","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}