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Summary: IN SEARCH OF FREEDOM
Review: AMERICA SANTIAGO IS A WOMAN WHO DOES NOT ASK FOR MUCH AND UP TO THE OPENING OF THE BOOK HAS NOT RECEIVED MUCH EITHER. IF SHE WERE TO BE GRANTED THREE WISHES THEY WOULD CERTAINLY BE THAT HER ALCOHOLIC MOTHER GIVE UP HER HABIT, THAT HER DAUGHTER ROSALINDA NEVER DO WHAT SHE DID IN BECOMING A TEENAGED MOTHER AND THAT HER MASOCHISTIC BOYFRIEND WHO IS ALSO THE FATHER OF ROSALINDA STOP TRYING TO BEAT HER TO DEATH.THE FIRST HALF OF THE BOOK TAKES THE READER TO THE SMALL ISLAND OF VIEQUES THAT FLOATS OFF THE EDGE OF ITS MOTHER ISLAND OF PUERTO RICO. IT IS A GOOD PLACE TO BEGIN BECAUSE THOUGH IT POSSESSES BEAUTY.IT IS UNDER OUTSIDE CONTROL VERY MUCH LIKE AMERICA HERSELF. THE U.S. NAVY USES IT FOR BOMBING PRACTICE AND COREA USES AMERICA FOR WHATEVER HE IS IN THE MOOD FOR AT THE MOMENT. AMERICA IS FACED WITH HAVING TO LEAVE THE THINGS CLOSEST AND DEAREST TO HER. HER PLACE OF BIRTH, HER MOTHER AND HER DAUGHTER. WHILE NONE OF THOSE THINGS BRING HER GREAT PLEASURE,THEY ARE A SIGNIFICANT PART OF HER. SHE WORKS AS A MAID IN A HOTEL MAKING JUST ENOUGH MONEY TO KEEP GOING,HER MOTHER IS A WORRY FOR AMERICA BECAUSE SEES HER LIFE BEING DESTROYED BY DESPAIR AND TH BOTTLE. NOT TO WORRY THOUGH TOO MUCH AMERICA,ESTERS LOVE INTEREST WITH THE HOTEL OWNER FILLS HER NIGHTS WHENEVE SHE GETS IN THE MOOD. HER DAUGHTER ROSALINDA SEEMS TO BE GOING THROUGH THAT DIFFICULT PERIOD OF NEEDING TO FEEL AS DIFFERENT FROM HER MOTHER AS POSSIBLE AND THE WAY TO DO THAT IS TO ALIENTATE HERSELF FROM HER BY ACTING DISCUSTED,DISGUSTING AND DETACHED. AFTER A DISTURBING SCENE OF COREA FLEXING HIS MACHISMO EGO AND MIGHTY FIST,AMERICA TAKES AN OFFER TO MOVE TO NEW YORK TO HELP CARE FOR A SUBURBAN FAMILY. THE PLACE IS AS CULTURALLY DIFFERENT AS SWEDEN IS TO THE SUDAN. THE DIFFERENCE IN CLIMATE IS COMPARABLE AS WELL. ITS A TOUGH LIFESTYLE FOR AMERICA BUT ATLEAST SHE IS AWAY FROM COREA. NO ONE NOT EVEN HER MOTHER KNOWS EXACTLY WHERE AMERICA IS. SHE KEEPS IN TOUCH BUT DOES NOT TRUST THAT HER MOTHER COULD KEEP THE SECRET THROUGH ONE OF HER DRINKING EPISODES. AMERICA GETS TO KNOW OTHER LATINA MAIDS CARING FOR PROFESSIONAL WHITE FAMILIES. SHE LEARNS WHO SHE CAN TRUST. SHE FINDS SOME CULTURAL NORMALCY WITH HER PUERTO RICAN COUSIN AND HER FAMILY LIVING IN THE BRONX. FROM TIME TO TIME SHE VISITS THEM WHERE SHE MEETS A YOUNG MAN VERY MUCH UNLIKE COREA WHO ADORES HER. AMERICA HAS DREAMS THOUGH AND SHE IS NOT SURE THAT SUCH A MAN CAN EXIST IT THEM. THE FINAL CHAPTER OF THE BOOK IS A VERY PLAUSIBLE ONE. AT ANY RATE IT FITS WELL WITH THE STORY. THERE ARE SEVERAL CONNECTED ISSUES IN THE BOOK THAT MAKE ONE REALIZE THAT WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO DREAM REALITY COULD SIMPLY BE TOO MUCH.
Rating:
Summary: A real page turner!
Review: America's Dream is one of the best books I've read in a while. Esmeralda has done it again. The descriptions, customs, curiosity found in this book make you feel like your watching a moving rather than reading a book. You can almost feel the Vieques breeze. Domestic violence is a terrible social problem plaguing our society today, especially among Latina women. In our mothers time perhaps, this subject was unspoken. But today, I hope, Hispanic women are breaking free from the chains of domestic violence. I hope this book gives inspiration to my Latina sisters to end the cycle of abuse! Thank you Esmeralda for handling such a sensitive subject, with care and sensitivity!
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Summary: America's Reality
Review: America's Dream is one of the best, heart-wrenching, alive, intense, beautifully written books I have ever read. I don't say this lightly. I am a voracious reader, ingesting 3 novels per week. America's Dream is the perfect book for anyone who appreciates honesty and integrity. It's also the perfect book to give to a battered mom to show her there is hope. It is a book that should add to the collection of all of Esmeralda Santiago's works. Easy to read, but extremely rewarding. You really feel like you know America for the brave woman she is. Order this today. Truly, this novel should be read by women from all walks of life.
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Summary: Esmeralda Santiago is an incredible writer
Review: At first I thought this book was going to be really corny. But when I read the first page I was hooked! This book touched me on so many levels it was amazing! I recomend this book for anyone who is going through hard times with their daughters and for those who know of women being abused mentally and physically, or just know that someone is being abused period. This book touches on all kinds of topics fron alcoholism to teenage pregnancy to spousal abuse. It also shows that there is a new life after the smoke has cleared. Esmeralda Santiago makes America and her family come to life that I feel like I really know them. Este libro es buenisimo!!!! Boricuas in the house!
Rating:
Summary: America's Dream
Review: Esmeralda Santiago is a very powerful writer. In America's Dream she describes the situation many women are in, but do not have the strength to get out of. It is a great book. The story is very powerful and realistic. The way the story is written brings the reader into the story, and I felt like I was living America's life as the story went on. I recommend it to every woman, because it is a book that fights sexism, and it shows that women deserve respect too.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good read
Review: I had to read this book for a class that I am taking at school and I must say this has been the most enjoyable read this semester. This book is really a page turner I read it all in one day because I wanted to keep finding out what would happen next. I love this book because it's real and it doesn't sugarcoat anything. I also work in the area where the book takes place so I could imagine her at different places in the book. Excellent Book!
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Summary: A story of Latino machismo!
Review: I just finished reading America' Dream and I highly recommend it. The main theme of the book is spousal abuse and it's consequences. America, the main character, I think, represents the many Latinas who are victims of the old, but thriving mentality of the Latino men and culture. The book gives a pretty good feel of life in a Latin American country. It also portraits what is like to be a Latina servant in the United States. The story is a descriptive and accurate portrait of a woman's anguish and suffering, and her road to self-sufficiency. As a Latino man I was never offended by the depiction of America's nemesis her lover Correa. On the contrary, I give Esmeralda Santiago praise for daring to portrait the agony that is part of many Latinas and other women's everyday lives.
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Summary: A great book that depicts the universality of women's lives
Review: I read America's Dream over a year ago but America's story still sticks with me. As an American born citizen, I still could relate to her struggle with achieving independence in spite of all the forces that worked against her: her somewhat puzzling love for her husband in spite of his abuse; her tolerance of her mother's preoccupation with controlling her life; her struggle to influence her daughter in spite of a culture that deceives her into believing that she can gain independence through a relationship with a man. As a "professional" woman of color, I could even identify with her relationship with her employer. This is a fascinating story.
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Summary: A Truly Good Book
Review: Once I picked up "América's Dream" it was extremely difficult to put the book down. Esmeralda Santiago is so descriptive and talented in her work. You can seriously tell that she has a passion for writing. Reading "América's Dream" will put you right in the middle of the scene. You feel as if she is standing right in front of you and you just want to help her in so many ways possible. This book was so amazing that I finished it in just 2 days, wanting to read it all over again. I will truly recommend this book to anyone.
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Summary: This is a fantastic book
Review: Reading "America's dream" brought me back to Puerto Rico. I can certainly relate to not coping well to my first American winter, after years in the run. Reading how America, after a long-term, damaging relationship, decides that "it is her life, and she is the one in the middle of it" is an inspiration to me. The best developed character is America, of course. Other characters, although not so well defined, by turns influence America's life: Karen Leverett, the woman who hires America to care for her children; Rosalinda, America's rebellious 14-year old; Ester, America's alcoholic mother; and Correa, the abusive lover and father of Rosalinda. Jo-Hanna Goettsche, Everett. WA
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