Ultimately, though, Ana is her own strength and salvation. César reminds Ana that joy exists-and that it can be hers-as when he surprises her with her first hot dog at Coney Island. César is younger than Juan, more fun than his brother, and kinder, too. By now, Ana is pregnant, but with Juan away, she is free to take English classes from the nuns across the street and scheme up ways to earn her own money, selling fried pastelitos with the help of her brother-in-law, César. But slowly, her life in New York begins to broaden, especially when Juan travels back to the D.R. At first, Ana’s days are a bleak litany of chores and unwanted sex. Once Ana has arrived at her new apartment in Washington Heights, Juan proves himself to be a lousy husband, at best demanding and at worst abusive. Author Cruz ( Let It Rain Coffee, 2006, etc.) based the book on her own mother’s experiences, and Ana’s narration is wry and absorbing. plunges into chaos when dictator Rafael Trujillo is assassinated. and abroad-the Vietnam War is raging, and the D.R. It’s the early 1960s, and there is tumult in the U.S. In this coming-to-America story, the harsh realities of immigration are laid bare, but equally clear are the resilience and resourcefulness of the people who choose to make a new life far from home. Ana Canción is 15 when her parents marry her off to 32-year-old Juan Ruiz as part of a business arrangement, and she leaves her family farm in the Dominican Republic to move to New York City.
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