I requested this book because I was going to Dominican Republic and wanted to know more about the people and the place. I’ve just returned and the book and the island have made me want to find out more about the history and the struggles. The book is a memoir of a relative and therefore the story has already been filtered and a little sanitised. However I enjoyed reading about Ana and how she coped being only 15 and effectively sold to her much older husband in order to be the conduit for the rest of the family to go to America. I think the balance of the grim life story was well judged with lighter moments, which were very necessary as otherwise the book would have been too depressing.

This is a wholesome story, an affectionate recreation by Angie Cruz of her mother's arrival and first years in New York as a Dominican immigrant. Ana, as she is known, comes from a poor farming family and is groomed to become the wife of Juan, to go with him to New York and to become a provider for the family. Ana would rather not go, she doesn't want to leave her friends and she is young but she is railroaded into it. In New York, Juan does not treat her well but he works hard.

So, the meat of the story is about how Ana gets used to living as an immigrant in the big American city, becoming increasingly confident and learning English. She has a difficult pregnancy, falls in love with her husband's brother and, eventually, finds her feet and the book ends with her family visiting and her relationship with Juan continuing. Although that side of her life still seems precarious the book ends on an optimistic note.

Of course it is clearly a documentary account as well as a novel but it provides what you might call a received view of being a peasant in Dominica. Life is poor and hard and then gets harder. Maybe it was like that but it is laid on quite heavily perhaps to create the justification for selling your daughter into an arranged marriage!

Juan and his brothers have the potential to be interesting characters and certainly get halfway there. They give themselves airs and graces in Dominica but are really a gang of spivs and in New York they are at the bottom of the Labour pile struggling to make money. Juan is always on the lookout for the next opportunity or the next woman. Although he treats Ana badly, there is a sense of affection there as if he would like to do better in other circumstances.

In the end though this reads like a dramatic reconstruction from a series of shared memories and old photographs and if you like that kind of thing then it is for you but there are no great depths of character and once I got the picture of peasant life in Dominica contrasted against the poor immigrant life in New York that was somehow it. I'd have liked a bit more!

This isn’t the sort of book that I would usually read, but it looked interesting, so I gave it a try. Unfortunately I didn’t really enjoy it!

I devoured this novel like the workmen devour the pastelitos our heroine Ana cooks!

This book was warm, heartbreaking, funny, real and came alive with every turn of the page.
The main character, Ana, is 15 years old. Some readers have commented in their reviews that the writing style is childish or pedestrian. I think it perfectly reflects the young narrator. She's 15, catapulted from her mainly sheltered life in the rural Dominican Republic, to a different kind of shelter when she's married off to Juan, a man twice her age, with the consent of her parents on the promise of a better life for all of them, something that she has expected for years and has mixed feelings about, and ends up feeling trapped in their apartment in New York, away from her beloved family with her new marriage quickly turning sour.

Ana is at times excited, enraged, infatuated, lost, betrayed, triumphant, confused, alone and surrounded - and the scattered nature of the writing reflects this. Sometimes we get the voice of other characters and it is not clear who is speaking, or what is spoken or thought, but again I think this goes perfectly hand in hand with the confusion Ana feels, having to face a completely new life as a wife, a new country, city, language.
I found this story really addictive and every time I put it down I couldn't wait to spend a few more chapters following Ana's story. I would love to know what happened next!

Apart from being entertaining, the book is a great insight into modern history, and I'm sure that it reflects the experience of plenty of immigrants. In a time where the topics of immigration, child marriage, etc are at the political forefront, this is a wonderful educational introduction into some of these topics and would be ideal suggested reading for high school/further education.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

It's such an important book and I really loved it. It's a good take on immigration and being a woman in a tough world, I definitely recommend it.

Thanks a lot to the publisher and Netgalley for this copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This book was so refreshing. I felt the history and emotion in every word of such an important story - we so rarely hear the stories of immigrants, particularly women. And the more we hear them, hopefully the more everyone will begin to empathise and see that there is no 'them' - just 'us'. I want to thank the author for bringing this story to life, and all the Dominicanas who inspired it.

I have seen a lot of rave reviews of this novel and I thought I would be one of them, but this fell flat for me. I jsut couldn't muster up interest in the characters.

Ana is fifteen when she’s married off to a man twice her age and moves from her home in the Dominican Republic to New York. She doesn’t speak English and is essentially trapped in her apartment with no support, family or friends.

With almost telenovela levels of drama, Ana’s life as an immigrant is full of trouble. From domestic abuse to cruel friends, Ana struggles and at first is overwhelmed. The book really comes to life as she grows and finds strength and motivation to improve her life.

It was interesting to see a community I hadn’t read much about before and the overall message of strength, determination and hope is well worth reading.

What a great book! Dominicana tells the story of Ana. Married young, living in a foreign country with no family and not able to speak the language. She’s triumphed in the face of adversity and trying to make life better for her family. I was hooked from page 1. Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.
The review has also been posted on the following link:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3105250120

15 year old Domenicana country girl Ana is courted by 32 year old Juan. Her parents encourage the match. Ana will go to New York, dollars will be sent home, visas will be procured for other family members. All will be well...

An engrossing immigrants story, together with an intimate portrayal of a loveless union. The historical background with unrest in the Dominican Republic and US involvement is touched on too. Ana's fortitude impresses. I enjoyed it.

Dominicana tells the story of Ana, a 15-year-old from rural Dominican Republic who is married off by her family to a much older man, Juan Ruiz, with whom she moves to New York in search of a better life. The story is set in the mid 60s, a time of great political and racial turmoil in the US, and the author tries to shoehorn some events from this period into the narrative. I requested this novel because I know next to nothing about the Dominican immigrant experience in the US, and hoped Cruz's novel might shed more light on the topic.

I hate to be so negative about a book but this story has been told a hundred times before, and Dominicana brings nothing new to the table. The characters are flat and cliched, the writing pedestrian and the plot anticlimactic. I didn't believe in (or care about) Ana's story, and am unsure why I didn't DNF this when I realised it wasn't for me.

I really enjoyed this. It was an insight to something I knew little about and found Ana's story gripping., especially as it is based on truth. Terrible to think of what was expected of a 15 year old, but there was always an inner strength there and it was good to see her begin to find her feet by the end of the book. Terribly sad though, but a positive ending - you can't help but feel she's going to be fine.

This novel was, at times, incredibly engrossing, and at other times, entirely frustrating. It was interesting for me (a non-US reader) to understand more about migration to the US from the Dominican Republic - except that, as a result of having a really innocent 15 year old narrator who doesn't understand much of the cultural context, loads of important information is glazed over. (Maybe info that is more easily filled in by a US reader?)

I did like the structure of the novel, and some of the characters - especially the mother - were really complex in a way I hadn't fully expected at the beginning. Other characters - like the English teacher - seemed as if they were going to be a lot more important than they ended up being.

Overall, it was a promising idea, but my enjoyment of it was brought down by being narrated by a character who is kept unaware of a lot of what is happening around her.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley.

Dominicana is a domestic drama following 15-year-old Ana as she's married off to a man twice her age and moves to New York from the Dominican Republic.

The plot is relatively predictable, and at times the lyrical style is the only thing elevating it from an almost telenovella tone. There are several elements that could be tightened; the domestic violence sometimes feels like a plot device rather than an emotive issue, and the romance thread is pretty unnecessary.

Dominicana is at its best when it leans towards a coming of age story. I've read quite a few immigrant narratives in the vein of Dominicana but this is perhaps the best depiction of just how overwhelming it is to move to a country where you don't know anyone and don't speak the language that I've read. Ana is an endearing protagonist; at first you worry that immigrant life will crush her but, slowly but surely, she finds small ways to thrive. I really rooted for her, as she finds the strength to take on her everyday trials and triumphs.

Dominicana is an enjoyable read - though the narrative is occasionally a little clumsy and predictable, Ana is a heroine to root for.

It's lyrical and thoughtful, but it just wasn't for me. I think it's this style of writing - where the emphasis is not on action or things happening, but places a micro-focus on feelings and thoughts and the meaning of things - that I just don't gel with, which is sad. I think this is a very important story and I love that this perspective is being written about and explored, but I didn't fit with it. Other readers will, I'm sure of it.

In Dominicana we meet fifteen year old Ana who lives with her family in the countryside of the Dominican Republic. Ana gets the "opportunity" to move to America one of the Ruiz brother’s - Juan - proposes to her. Only fifteen years old and promised to a man twice her age, Ana is forced to go along with this plan to better her family’s prospects.

The novel explore’s Ana’s new life as she struggles to adapt to the role of wife, homemaker and caregiver with no complete high school education, no income of her own, little support and lots of pressure.

The ingredients of this book are everything I look for in my reading at the moment. I love reading the stories of communities who haven’t widely been afforded a voice and was really excited to read this. The characters were not all likeable, though I don’t think this is necessarily a negative as they did seem authentic, and the plot is a little meandering in places which is a shame because the overall premise is fantastic. However, this is still a beautifully written story of hope, resilience and determination and an examination of how misogyny damages societies, communities and families.

Reminded me of the telenovelas I watched when I was a kid; a standard immigrant story that I didn't particularly dislike, albeit, in a week, I won't remember a thing about it.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

Wonderful literary fiction about the strength of women and immigrants and how we stay sane when nothing around us makes sense. I loved Anita and really enjoyed these two hours or so together. Hope to read more from this author!

A lovely beautifully written novel.Dominicana jumps off the page a young immigrant to America a girl who experience s life as an immigrant .a portrayal of what life is truly likes for immigrants to our country to a big bustling city like New York.A radiant character a book I won’t forget.#netgalley#Johnmurraypress