How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents.

ALVAREZ, Julia.

$750.00

Item Number: 108779

Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Press, 1991.

First edition of the author’s classic work. Octavo, original half cloth, Lengthily signed by the author on the title page, “May you enjoy my book- There are still times I wake up at three o’clock in the morning… to write books like this one, Julia Alvarez.” Near fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket art by Paul Munck. Jacket design by Carin Goldberg.

This rollicking, highly original first novel tells the story (in reverse chronological order) of four sisters and their family, as they become Americanized after fleeing the Dominican Republic in the 1960s. A family of privilege in the police state they leave, the Garcias experience understandable readjustment problems in the United States, particularly old world patriarch Papi. The sisters fare better but grow up conscious, like all immigrants, of living in two worlds. There is no straightforward plot; rather, vignettes (often exquisite short stories in their own right) featuring one or more of the sisters--Carle, Sandi, Yolanda, and Fifi--at various stages of growing up are strung together in a smooth, readable story. Alvarez is a gifted, evocative storyteller of promise. "Subtle . . . Powerful . . . Reveals the intricacies of family, the impact of culture and place, and the profound power of language" (The Washington Post Book World).