This book is from my personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library.
Publisher: Flatiron Books / Macmillan Audio
Published: January 4, 2022
Summary:
A blazing talent debuts with the tale of a status-driven wedding planner grappling with her social ambitions, absent mother, and Puerto Rican roots, all in the wake of Hurricane Maria
It’s 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro “Prieto” Acevedo, are bold-faced names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn while Olga is the tony wedding planner for Manhattan’s powerbrokers.
Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy. Sure, Olga can orchestrate the love stories of the 1%, but she can’t seem to find her own…until she meets Matteo, who forces her to confront the effects of long-held family secrets…
Twenty-seven years ago, their mother, Blanca, a Young Lord-turned-radical, abandoned her children to advance a militant political cause, leaving them to be raised by their grandmother. Now, with the winds of hurricane season, Blanca has come barreling back into their lives.
Set against the backdrop of New York City in the months surrounding the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico’s history, Olga Dies Dreaming is a story that examines political corruption, familial strife and the very notion of the American dream–all while asking what it really means to weather a storm.
My thoughts:
I love discovering debut novels but it’s even more impressive when they don’t read like debut novels and that is definitely what we have here. This book is so well written and thought-provoking that had I not known it was a debut I never would have guessed. It is such a deeply resonating, eye-opening story that addresses some rather heavy topics but also adds just the right amount of levity to make it a good read.
I’m always down for a book that explores family dysfunction, but this one adds so many intricate layers to it – layers that are carefully woven around Olga and her situation. I loved how the author was able to work in what was happening in Puerto Rico after the hurricane with the gentrification of Brooklyn and not make it too much.
This story is definitely character-driven, but I happen to love these stories every once in a while, and so this did not bother me in the least. I loved seeing how Olga and her brother learned to navigate their public versus private personas – something that many of us still need to work on. This book offers a lot if you are willing to give it a chance and I’m glad I did.
Audio thoughts:
There were three narrators for this book – Almarie Guerra, Ines del Castillo, Armando Riesco – and they made the book. They are all Puerto-Rican born and so it just seemed such a natural fit. They were able to give authentic performances throughout and that really makes a difference. This was such an enjoyable listen!
