Paz insightfully describes, the complexities and contradictions of growing up in the United States to a Dominican mother and a Cuban father. From her mother’s obsessive cleaning rituals to her father’s remarkable knack for invention, this book beautifully explains what living a hyphenated-life means for so many Hispanics. She writes about what it means to be American, and Cuban, and Dominican, and having to be all of those things and only one of them… all at the same time.
Following the passing of her mother, the author finds herself on a search for meaning through not only her past, but also her mother’s. This book is about life, loss, memory, culture, and family, the glue that determines who your family actually is- love. Written with a healthy dose of wit and an abundance of sincerity, Plantains and the 7 Plagues is honest, painfully relatable, and deeply heartfelt.
Reviewed by:
Celia
Rating: 3.5
stars
Review: Born
a “mutt,” Paz Ellis writes a memoir dating back to the courtship of her parents
through her childhood in New Jersey.
With witty sentiment and reverence, this story is a simply poignant recollection of a young girl’s life as she transitions into adulthood. Although lengthy and monotonous at times, Ellis still manages to bring her story to life. Her story is so insightfully detailed that it puts the reader in the author’s shoes, walking around in a half-Cuban/half-Dominican world.
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