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The Taste of Sugar

Audiobook
Fiction: Hispanic & Latino
Unabridged   12.5 hour(s)
Publication date: 12/08/2020

The Taste of Sugar

Available from major retailers or BUY FROM AMAZON
Digital Download ISBN:9781684579846

Summary

Marisel Vera emerges as a major voice of contemporary fiction with a heart-wrenching novel set in Puerto Rico on the eve of the Spanish-American War.

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Product Description

Marisel Vera emerges as a major voice of contemporary fiction with a heart-wrenching novel set in Puerto Rico on the eve of the Spanish-American War.

It is 1898, and groups of starving Puerto Ricans, los hambrientos, roam the parched countryside and dusty towns begging for food. Under the yoke of Spanish oppression, the Caribbean island is forced to prepare to wage war with the United States. Up in the mountainous coffee region of Utuado, Vicente Vega and Valentina Sanchez labor to keep their small farm from the creditors. When the Spanish-American War and the great San Ciriaco Hurricane of 1899 bring devastating upheaval, the young couple is lured, along with thousands of other puertorriqueños, to the sugar plantations of Hawaii—another US territory—where they are confronted by the hollowness of America's promises of prosperity. Writing in the tradition of great Latin American storytelling, Marisel Vera's The Taste of Sugar is an unforgettable novel of love and endurance, and a timeless portrait of the reasons we leave home.

Reviews/Praise

Vera’s breakout novel is a sweeping, emotional tale that puts her characters, and her readers, through an emotional wringer.” - Kirkus Reviews

"Recommended for anyone who enjoys epic stories of hardship and loss as well as the perseverance, love, and strength drawn from one’s family and culture.” - Faye Chadwell, Library Journal

"Vera’s novel is historical fiction at its best, featuring engaging survivors from a forgotten past.” - Sara Martinez, Booklist

Author Bio

A proud Boricua, Marisel Vera is the author of If I Bring You Roses, and the two-time winner of Willow Review's fiction prize. She lives in Chicago and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.