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Of Women and Salt


A kaleidoscopic portrait of generations of women from a 19th-century Cuban cigar...
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Did the book add any new perspectives to your understanding of the U.S. immigration system? If you have read other fiction that focuses on immigration, how does Of Women and Salt compare?

Created: 04/26/21

Replies: 11

Posted Apr. 26, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

Did the book add any new perspectives to your understanding of the U.S. immigration system? If you have read other fiction that focuses on immigration, how does Of Women and Salt compare?

Did the book add any new information or perspectives to your understanding of the U.S. immigration system? If you have read other fiction that focuses on immigration, how does Of Women and Salt compare?


Posted Apr. 26, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
janeb

Join Date: 10/09/18

Posts: 49

RE: Did the book add any new ...

American Dirt, controversial as it was, had my heart in its hands until the end. I had to put it down to recover from its intensity more than once. Of Women and Salt is pale in comparison. New perspectives of immigration, no.


Posted Apr. 26, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Jessica F

Join Date: 05/23/20

Posts: 165

RE: Did the book add any new ...

This did not add any new perspectives on immigration for me. What she described was comparable to a 20/20 tv interview.


Posted Apr. 26, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
scgirl

Join Date: 06/05/18

Posts: 245

RE: Did the book add any new ...

It didn't add any new perspective on immigration for me either. I think American Dirt did more to expand my views of illegal immigration than this did. Still it was a compelling story.


Posted Apr. 26, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
gerrieb

Join Date: 09/03/19

Posts: 208

RE: Did the book add any new ...

I agree with Janeb and scgirl. American Dirt expanded my knowledge and my compassion and did it in a much more skillful, heart pounding, and heart rending way.


Posted Apr. 26, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
cathyoc

Join Date: 04/26/17

Posts: 247

RE: Did the book add any new ...

I enjoyed this novel and the way it tied the characters together, it did make me think about immigration in a different way. I have never before thought that an immigrant would lose the connection to their home country and really not feel at home anywhere. I enjoyed Women and Salt for the strength and variety of its characters. American Dirt was a much different read. Both were worthwhile.


Posted Apr. 26, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Elizabetta

Join Date: 04/24/21

Posts: 48

RE: Did the book add any new ...

While the book added little to the understanding of the US Immigration system per se, it gave a decidedly female perspective to the multitude of difficulties women face. We get to experience the back side of immigration- what happens after someone is here. Gloria’s deportation story was not something I have read before and Ana’s story puts a new spin on the Cuban diaspora. Each woman is a victim and the structure of this novel makes each woman’s story more personal.


Posted Apr. 27, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
nanette s

Join Date: 05/06/12

Posts: 33

RE: Did the book add any new ...

I haven't really read any stories about immigration and was hoping this story could shed some light on that issue. This story, in my opinion, didn't help me in understanding immigration and how it affected some of the families within this story.


Posted Apr. 27, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
elisabethc

Join Date: 07/16/19

Posts: 42

RE: Did the book add any new ...

Though it's a very different type of novel, Of Women and Salt reminded me of Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera, which I loved. Both books are strange and somewhat experimental in their approach, and I find that appropriate to exploring the absurdity of the U.S. immigration system as well as many of the odd and cruel ingrained realities of American life that can't be separated from the existence of that system.

I also agree with Elizabetta about the specific perspectives that Of Women and Salt explores. I don't think it's really possible to think about and understand immigration as a personal and cultural phenomenon without understanding the perspectives of diaspora, second generation, etc.


Posted Apr. 30, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
cm28015

Join Date: 11/01/15

Posts: 37

RE: Did the book add any new ...

It did, especially with immigration in the news. It is difficult to understand what this population must and our ancestors go or went through simply for a better life.


Posted May. 01, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
elise

Join Date: 04/22/11

Posts: 101

RE: Did the book add any new ...

It was nothing new about the U.S. immigration issue, but I did learn a lot about Cuba and it’s history.


Posted Jun. 04, 2021 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
taking.mytime's Gravatar
taking.mytime

Join Date: 03/29/16

Posts: 364

RE: Did the book add any new ...

I much prefer nonfiction when it comes to immigration. I have read a number of nonfiction books that dealt with border crossing and ICE. I feel that in a nonfiction book you can learn about immigration - as each persons story seems to be a bit different. This book did not add anything to my awareness of immigration.


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