Despite the negative reviews u can find online, I think this book is brilliant. The main reason is perhaps because of the well-developed characters. And their self-destructive nature which makes it such a darkly comic read.
Maria Caesar came to America with her father to search for prosperity and opportunities. But the reality hit them hard despite the hard work and efforts to assimilate their new culture. To escape the daily cruelties they were facing and the path set up for a Mexican woman, Maria was fascinated with trip to Hollywood and the picture palaces. At the age of fifteen, she was lured to brothel because of the glamour and yearning to the screen.
Clara Jones who was determined to leave the Mexican part of herself - the part that was poor and hurt and vilified behind completely and enter a white-bred world. At one point, she did indeed escape it by marrying to Larry Jones, the malleable son of the rich from Beverly Hills. Her scheme to approach Larry, get him impregnate her then marry her happened as planned out. But years of efforts were wasted as Larry Jones was caught having sex with a convict in the prison he worked at. He had let her down completely and jeopardized their position on Las Focas, the island where they stayed. The hardest for Clara Jones was that the status and respectability she had been trying to claw out would be toiled away for good.
Then there’s Rita Mae, the daughter of Clara Jones who was thirteen whom dreamed to escape to Mainland with her Granmaria and pursue an acting career in Hollywood. She thought she could leave the island with the newfound freedom after the death of both her parents. But what she didn’t know - Maria Caesar who had been ill was finally submitted to some mental institutions because of nervous breakdown. She was left all alone.
Okay, so basically that was what happened to the three dysfunctional generations of women. Each of them suffered a tragic fate. Maria Caesar went crazy in her young age and with the help of her Aunt Consuela, she had raised Clara Jones. Clara Jones, on the other hands, became overbearing and the marriage between her and Larry had never been based on anything but manipulation. She committed suicide in the end for not being to handle the truth and perhaps to escape the consequences. Whereby, Rita Mae was sexually assaulted when she was little. One day, when finally she regained the lost memory, she sadly realized that her parents had not done anything about it. No one had been punished. Her father whom had been fond of her couldn’t even protect her which led her not to help Larry out. This caused him to be shot dead in an attempt attempting to flee the island with his criminal lover.
I honestly don’t know which character I should feel the most sympathetic towards. They equally deserved it, including Larry and Johnny, Rita Mae’s admirer. And I honestly can’t make up my mind as to which character I love the most as they are all equally flawed and sick. The storyline is great, twists after twists and everything was well-described. For example, Clara had decided to trade her daughter’s well-being with the hope to continue her underlying affair with James Wright, whose son had raped Rita Mae. Larry, upon discovering the affair of them after his wife’s death had blackmailed James Wright so that he could get away with his crime even though that meant sacrificing and using her daughter. Everyone was so selfish that it was painfully enjoyable to read it.
Back to the reality, I do know of a very closed friend who comes off so much like Clara Jones. But I think it’s very hypocritical of me to condemn her or anything because it would be like pot calling kettle black because like her, we both believe in certain values just that I have yet and I don’t think I will ever go as far as her.
