Genre Fiction
![Gabriela Garcia - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B08FBPZTGL.jpg)
Of Women and Salt: A Novel
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
THE WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF 2021
A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK
WINNER of the Isabel Allende Most Inspirational Fiction Award, She Reads Best of 2021 Awards • FINALIST for the 2022 Southern Book Prize • LONGLISTED for Crook's Corner Book Prize • NOMINEE for 2021 Goodreads Choice Award in Debut Novel and Historical Fiction
A sweeping, masterful debut about a daughter's fateful choice, a mother motivated by her own past, and a family legacy that begins in Cuba before either of them were born
In present-day Miami, Jeanette is battling addiction. Daughter of Carmen, a Cuban immigrant, she is determined to learn more about her family history from her reticent mother and makes the snap decision to take in the daughter of a neighbor detained by ICE. Carmen, still wrestling with the trauma of displacement, must process her difficult relationship with her own mother while trying to raise a wayward Jeanette. Steadfast in her quest for understanding, Jeanette travels to Cuba to see her grandmother and reckon with secrets from the past destined to erupt.
From 19th-century cigar factories to present-day detention centers, from Cuba to Mexico, Gabriela Garcia's Of Women and Salt is a kaleidoscopic portrait of betrayals―personal and political, self-inflicted and those done by others―that have shaped the lives of these extraordinary women. A haunting meditation on the choices of mothers, the legacy of the memories they carry, and the tenacity of women who choose to tell their stories despite those who wish to silence them, this is more than a diaspora story; it is a story of America's most tangled, honest, human roots.
THE WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF 2021
A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK
WINNER of the Isabel Allende Most Inspirational Fiction Award, She Reads Best of 2021 Awards • FINALIST for the 2022 Southern Book Prize • LONGLISTED for Crook's Corner Book Prize • NOMINEE for 2021 Goodreads Choice Award in Debut Novel and Historical Fiction
A sweeping, masterful debut about a daughter's fateful choice, a mother motivated by her own past, and a family legacy that begins in Cuba before either of them were born
In present-day Miami, Jeanette is battling addiction. Daughter of Carmen, a Cuban immigrant, she is determined to learn more about her family history from her reticent mother and makes the snap decision to take in the daughter of a neighbor detained by ICE. Carmen, still wrestling with the trauma of displacement, must process her difficult relationship with her own mother while trying to raise a wayward Jeanette. Steadfast in her quest for understanding, Jeanette travels to Cuba to see her grandmother and reckon with secrets from the past destined to erupt.
From 19th-century cigar factories to present-day detention centers, from Cuba to Mexico, Gabriela Garcia's Of Women and Salt is a kaleidoscopic portrait of betrayals―personal and political, self-inflicted and those done by others―that have shaped the lives of these extraordinary women. A haunting meditation on the choices of mothers, the legacy of the memories they carry, and the tenacity of women who choose to tell their stories despite those who wish to silence them, this is more than a diaspora story; it is a story of America's most tangled, honest, human roots.
Editorial Reviews
Named a Best Book of the Year:
Cosmopolitan • The Boston Globe • Real Simple • Marie Claire • Reader's Digest • Good Housekeeping • Woman's Day • She Reads • Austin Public Library • Harper's Bazaar
Selected as Indie Next Great Reads for April
Selected as June Book of the Month for Roxane Gay's Audacious Book Club
A Most Anticipated Book (Bustle, Buzzfeed, E! News, Entertainment Weekly, Good Morning America, Goodreads, Harper's Bazaar, New York Times, O Magazine, Lit Hub, Refinery29, Vogue India, Reader's Digest, PopSugar, TIME Magazine, and more!)
Praise for Of Women and Salt
"Gabriela Garcia captures the lives of Cuban women in a world to which they refuse to surrender and she does so with precision and generosity and beauty." - Roxane Gay, bestselling author of Hunger and Bad Feminist
"Of Women and Salt is a fierce and powerful debut. Garcia wields narrative power, cultivating true and profound work on migration, legacy, and survival." - Terese Marie Mailhot, bestselling author of Heart Berries
"Garcia's vivid details, visceral prose and strong willful women negotiating how to survive in this world are easy to fall for." - Angie Cruz, author of Dominicana
"In this debut novel, the daughter of a Cuban immigrant is haunted by the desire to learn more about her history, setting in motion a multigenerational family story that leaps across the Americas." - The New York Times
"This riveting account will please readers of sweeping multigenerational stories." - Publishers Weekly
"Garcia's debut novel is a...stunningly accomplished first novel is both epic and intimate." - O Magazine
"At the heart of Of Women and Salt are the sacrifices made by mothers so their daughters can have different lives―perhaps better ones. But daughters may make choices based on their own wishes and needs, and this possibility is ever poised to pierce a mother's heart. In this way, the novel is quietly heartbreaking. As Garcia writes, 'Even the best mothers in the world can't always save their daughters.'" - BookPage, starred review
"From the perspectives of several generations of Cuban women, this remarkable debut shines a brilliant light on the broken immigration system and legacy of trauma for the people who endure it." - Ms. Magazine
"When Jeanette agrees to take in the daughter of a neighbor detained by ICE, she is suddenly forced to reckon with her complicated ties to her mother―herself an immigrant―and her grandmother who still lives in Cuba. Following three generations of Cuban women from Mexico to Miami, Gabriela Gar...
Cosmopolitan • The Boston Globe • Real Simple • Marie Claire • Reader's Digest • Good Housekeeping • Woman's Day • She Reads • Austin Public Library • Harper's Bazaar
Selected as Indie Next Great Reads for April
Selected as June Book of the Month for Roxane Gay's Audacious Book Club
A Most Anticipated Book (Bustle, Buzzfeed, E! News, Entertainment Weekly, Good Morning America, Goodreads, Harper's Bazaar, New York Times, O Magazine, Lit Hub, Refinery29, Vogue India, Reader's Digest, PopSugar, TIME Magazine, and more!)
Praise for Of Women and Salt
"Gabriela Garcia captures the lives of Cuban women in a world to which they refuse to surrender and she does so with precision and generosity and beauty." - Roxane Gay, bestselling author of Hunger and Bad Feminist
"Of Women and Salt is a fierce and powerful debut. Garcia wields narrative power, cultivating true and profound work on migration, legacy, and survival." - Terese Marie Mailhot, bestselling author of Heart Berries
"Garcia's vivid details, visceral prose and strong willful women negotiating how to survive in this world are easy to fall for." - Angie Cruz, author of Dominicana
"In this debut novel, the daughter of a Cuban immigrant is haunted by the desire to learn more about her history, setting in motion a multigenerational family story that leaps across the Americas." - The New York Times
"This riveting account will please readers of sweeping multigenerational stories." - Publishers Weekly
"Garcia's debut novel is a...stunningly accomplished first novel is both epic and intimate." - O Magazine
"At the heart of Of Women and Salt are the sacrifices made by mothers so their daughters can have different lives―perhaps better ones. But daughters may make choices based on their own wishes and needs, and this possibility is ever poised to pierce a mother's heart. In this way, the novel is quietly heartbreaking. As Garcia writes, 'Even the best mothers in the world can't always save their daughters.'" - BookPage, starred review
"From the perspectives of several generations of Cuban women, this remarkable debut shines a brilliant light on the broken immigration system and legacy of trauma for the people who endure it." - Ms. Magazine
"When Jeanette agrees to take in the daughter of a neighbor detained by ICE, she is suddenly forced to reckon with her complicated ties to her mother―herself an immigrant―and her grandmother who still lives in Cuba. Following three generations of Cuban women from Mexico to Miami, Gabriela Gar...
Readers Top Reviews
Francesca M.
Storia costruita attraverso frammenti di vita di donne differenti ma simili, a cavallo tra la difficoltà di vivere a metà strada tra culture.
Sammy MsnoitallKindl
In general, I like this book..However, it was disjointed and incomplete with an inadequate ending..Not paying attention and not realizing the book was so short, when I all of sudden came to the acknowledgment page, I thought that I had accidentally advanced the pages…I was confused..Maybe if the book had been longer, the story and characters could have been more developed..
carmenDomingo S.
It’s appalling. Both the writing and the message, as well as the story. Fortunately, at 212 pages it demanded only a few hours of my time and reinforced my belief that building walls and shutting our borders (and cutting off all aid to illegals living here) is the only answer. A mother claims to want a better life for her daughter but why not build it where you are to the best of your ability? There is never an excuse to use another country… Especially illegally… to serve your own ends, regardless of how altruistic and unselfish you believe they may be. If you want to immigrate you do it the correct way like so many others have. I’m sick and tired of being told we are a terrible country because we turn away those who want to come here without paying any dues and take from this great country that they will always hate for not giving them more and more. Even as fiction, this book misses the mark in storytelling and prose. It was a waste of my time. I would hate for you to waste yours as well.
