Think in the Morning recommends the book for many reasons. For anyone whose knowledge of Puerto Rico is limited, we think this novel is an ideal way to learn more. The book is a family saga. It follows Olga, a wedding planner for the wealthy elite, and her brother Prieto, a politician, Nuyoricans (Americans of Puerto Rican descent raised in New York), their large family of aunts and uncles, and their activist mother Blanca who left them to be raised by their grandmother while she pursued social and political justice for Puerto Rico.

Olga shares her observations as she witnesses the comedy of life in a Kardashian-like pop culture. She and Prieto prove once again that old observation that the truth is harder to believe than fiction.

The complex relationship between Olga, Prieto and their mother portrays the common observation that the current generation inevitably rebels against the politics and values of their parents. While Blanca is consumed by her dedication of social causes, Olga and Prieto are seduced by a vacuous materialism even though Olga observes how wealth can be empty and exhausting.

Olga realized that she’d allowed herself to become distracted from the true American dream—accumulating money—by its phantom cousin, accumulating fame. She would never make that mistake again.

…

Olga began to notice that her clients were growing steadily richer while the people doing the work were getting compensated in exactly the same way. Even the rich people appeared less content than before. Simply existing seemed an immense burden to them. Their wealth bought them homes that were “exhausting” to deal with, vacations that were “overwhelming” to plan for. What was required to please them, to make them feel joy on their most joyful day, became increasingly impossible to achieve. Olga raised her prices, inflated her bills, increased her markups. But the money didn’t make any of it feel better. She began, gradually at first, to find not only her actual day-to-day work tedious and stupid, but also the entire project of her life. Around this time Olga noticed that her mother’s notes no longer filled her, even for a moment, with smug satisfaction.

One of our favorite scenes in the book is when Olga is appearing on Good Morning, Later (a television show similar to the Today Show), just after hurricane Maria devastates Puerto Rico. It is at this moment when an existential change in Olga takes over. She loses it and the experience reorients her life. The scene is so funny and poignant at the same time that we quote it in detail.

“Oh my!” Tammy suddenly exclaimed. She paused. “Olga, I just remembered. You are of Puerto Rican heritage, aren’t you?” “Yes,” Olga said with a solemn nod. Internally, she screamed, Fuck. Fuck! Tammy! “And is your family over there okay?” Tammy asked, gently resting her hand on Olga’s shoulder. “The images look just awful.” “Well, Tammy,” Olga began, and as soon as she opened her mouth she knew that she was not going to give them the Good Morning, Later version of this conversation that they wanted. She wasn’t even going to give them the Good Morning version of this conversation, “the images look awful, because it is awful. This morning, right before I came on, I saw pictures of American children lapping up rainwater because their water supply has been contaminated by the dumping of toxic waste by U.S. corporations all over the island—” “Yes, Olga,” Toni tried to cut in, “it really is hard to—” “No, Toni, Tammy asked me how my family is, so I want to tell her. My cousin can’t locate her sick grandmother because they have no cell service and in the unlikely event that she got to a hospital, she’s still probably dead because the hospitals don’t have enough fuel to operate the generators. But she won’t be the only one. When this is over, mark my words, thousands will be dead, because this is just the beginning, and I want to be really clear here—” Tammy tried to cut in, but Olga swatted her away before a word could get out of her mouth. She could see that the red light of the camera was still on. The producers were going to let her keep going. Fuck it, she thought. “These deaths will be blood on this president’s hands, this administration’s hands. They can try and blame the Puerto Rican debt; they can blame their lackey—the governor down there—but he’s just a figurehead. At the end of the day, this was not an earthquake, it was a hurricane. A hurricane that the government knew was coming for a whole week and did nothing to prepare for. What we are witnessing is the systemic destruction of the Puerto Rican people at the hands of the government, to benefit the ultra-rich and private corporate interests.” Toni awkwardly laughed. “Oh my, Olga, that sounds a bit conspiratorial, no?” “If it does, Toni, it’s just because you aren’t informed. It’s not your fault. Our schools whitewash history. So, let me explain. Puerto Ricans are Americans, but they have no elected representation in Congress or the Senate, and because they also aren’t a state, their governor has no authority to do things other governors can do, like call in the National Guard. Only the president can do that. Only the president can call in FEMA. Fifty percent of the island didn’t have power before Maria, but somehow the government didn’t think to call in the USS Comfort until this weekend? They knew before the storm that the island’s infrastructure was fragile, that they would lose communications, yet they only sent two Black Hawk helicopters? My brother—a U.S. congressman—traveled with the governor of New York to Puerto Rico two days—two days—after Maria hit. And the federal government just sent someone on Monday? “Listen, private interest has been trying to gain control of Puerto Rico—the land, the agencies—for ages. The government has always been their coconspirators. As I speak, this administration still hasn’t lifted the Jones Act! People are suffering—starving for food—but still being penalized with taxes on produce and other goods just for living on an island the U.S. government stole from them in the first place! That’s criminal! It shouldn’t be law. They are going to starve the Puerto Rican people of resources and support and, because there is a cap to what people can take—no power, no clean water, no schools, no jobs—they will effectively smoke people off the island, and then, that’s when the vultures will sweep in. They are already circling.” Olga stopped and noticed that Tammy was rapidly rotating through variations of a smile: a mask of sympathy, puzzlement, and possibly even a grimace of fear flitting across her face as she attempted to find the proper expression in the lexicon of morning TV responses. Toni had her hand to her earpiece. “Well, Olga,” Toni said, “it’s very clear how passionate you are about Maria recovery. We are going to need to cut to break, but before we go, any final words for the president? He is an avid news watcher!” Olga was a little surprised they would let her speak again. “Yes. Yes, I do.” She paused to think of exactly what she wanted to do with this opportunity. “Mr. President, I hope that the ghosts of every Puerto Rican who died at your hands in this catastrophe haunt your dreams each night, dancing an all-night salsa party in your twisted mind.”

There are so many good characters, so many great scenes. What more do you need? When we first started this book we weren’t sure we were going to like it but by the end we loved it. You will too. Buy it. Read it. Enjoy.