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  • John Murray

How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water

Angie Cruz

5 Reviews

Rated 0

USA, Dominican Republic, Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose write, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

From the author of the Women's Prize-shortlisted Dominicana comes an inventive, funny and deeply moving new novel about a Dominican-American woman who has lost her job, her son, and her sense of purpose but is fighting to get it all back.

'Cruz once again offers a fresh glimpse of immigration, womanhood, aspiration and gentrification . . . told in Cara's unfailingly frank, sometimes hilarious, voice' Washington Post

Write this down: Cara Romero wants to work.

When Cara left the Dominican Republic for America, she thought she would work at the factory of little lamps for the rest of her life. But when the Great Recession hits, she is left unemployed and struggling with the rising rent. To survive, Cara must start again.

Set up with a job counsellor, Cara's future is to be determined through forms and questionnaires. But answer boxes can't contain her indomitable personality and tempestuous past, and over the course of twelve sessions we learn of her scandals and struggles, hopes and heartbreaks, why she came to America and what really happened to her son.

When everything is lost, sometimes the only way forward is to go back to the start.

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Praise for How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water

  • Cruz once again offers a fresh glimpse of immigration, womanhood, aspiration and gentrification . . . Twelve sessions with a job counsellor provide the framework for Cruz's endearing portrait of a fierce, funny woman . . . told in Cara's unfailingly frank, sometimes hilarious, voice - Washington Post

  • A taut and poignant novel centred around a 56-year-old Dominican woman grappling with motherhood, acceptance and loss in the midst of the Great Recession . . . Cruz prioritises the importance of seeing an individual's humanity even within the most impersonal of systems - New York Times

  • A tender and quintessentially American portrait - Publishers Weekly

  • Will have you laughing line after line, even when you wonder if you should be (The answer is always yes! ) . . . Cruz's new novel aims for the heart, and fires - Los Angeles Times

  • Cruz's latest novel blazes with brilliance, from its first-person character development to its structure to its deliciously slow reveals . . . you can't help but root for Cara - The AV Club

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