We have updated our Privacy Policy Please take a moment to review it. By continuing to use this site, you agree to the terms of our updated Privacy Policy.
‘One of my favorite books I have read in years’ Quiara Alegria Hudes, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter of In the Heights
Write this down: Cara Romero wants to work.
Cara Romero thought she would work at the factory of little lamps for the rest of her life. But when, in her mid-50s, she loses her job in the Great Recession, she is forced back into the job market for the first time in decades. Set up with a job counselor, Cara instead begins to narrate the story of her life. Over the course of twelve sessions, Cara recounts her tempestuous love affairs, her alternately biting and loving relationships with her neighbor Lulu and her sister Angela, her struggles with debt, gentrification and loss, and, eventually, what really happened between her and her estranged son, Fernando. As Cara confronts her darkest secrets and regrets, we see a woman buffeted by life but still full of fight.
Structurally inventive and emotionally kaleidoscopic, How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water is Angie Cruz’s most ambitious and moving novel yet, and Cara is a heroine for the ages.
Write this down: Cara Romero wants to work.
Cara Romero thought she would work at the factory of little lamps for the rest of her life. But when, in her mid-50s, she loses her job in the Great Recession, she is forced back into the job market for the first time in decades. Set up with a job counselor, Cara instead begins to narrate the story of her life. Over the course of twelve sessions, Cara recounts her tempestuous love affairs, her alternately biting and loving relationships with her neighbor Lulu and her sister Angela, her struggles with debt, gentrification and loss, and, eventually, what really happened between her and her estranged son, Fernando. As Cara confronts her darkest secrets and regrets, we see a woman buffeted by life but still full of fight.
Structurally inventive and emotionally kaleidoscopic, How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water is Angie Cruz’s most ambitious and moving novel yet, and Cara is a heroine for the ages.
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Reviews
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
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
A tender and quintessentially American portrait
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
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
Direct and full of personality . . . turning these pages is like bring invited into a neighbour's kitchen for a good gossip session . . . Cruz has created an unforgettable character in Cara
Beautifully written and entertaining
An acerbic look at the effects that gentrification, recession and racial profiling have had on the immigrant experience
A story that weaves the impersonal enormity of the system with a deeply personal, believable and engaging narrative . . . By turns hilarious, tender and moving, this short novel packs a mighty big punch