Olga Dies Dreaming: A Novel
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By: Xochitl Gonzalez
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Paperback
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384 Pages
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Flatiron Books
Pulling from her own personal experience in the high-pressure venues of New York City, author Xochitl Gonzalez tackles elitism, racism, and the pitfalls of ambition with a startingly personal brushstroke. Family drama, politics, long-buried secrets, and romance are all present and accounted for in this must-read debut that follows wedding planner Olga and her search for her own fairytale ending. Set in the months surrounding the most destructive hurricane in Puerto Rico's history, Olga Dies Dreaming ultimately explores the reality (and the struggle) of the American dream.
It's 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro “Prieto” Acevedo, are boldfaced names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn, while Olga is the tony wedding planner for Manhattan’s power brokers.
Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy. Sure, Olga can orchestrate the love stories of the 1 percent but she can’t seem to find her own. . . until she meets Matteo, who forces her to confront the effects of long-held family secrets.
Olga and Prieto’s mother, Blanca, a Young Lord turned radical, abandoned her children to advance a militant political cause, leaving them to be raised by their grandmother. Now, with the winds of hurricane season, Blanca has come barreling back into their lives.
Set against the backdrop of New York City in the months surrounding the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico’s history, Xochitl Gonzalez’s Olga Dies Dreaming is a story that examines political corruption, familial strife, and the very notion of the American dream—all while asking what it really means to weather a storm.