How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

Migration out of Latin American countries in hopes of a better life has been a reoccurring theme for quite some time now, dating back years, as seen in the novel How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez. With their stories taking place from the 1950’s to 1990’s, we see a family fleeing the Dominican Republic due to a dispute between the Father and police who are part of the military dictatorship. The Garcia family consists of parents Carlos and Laura, and four daughters- Sandra, Carla, Sofia, and Yolanda. In a series of short stories about various events in their lives, we see the hardships they face leaving their home country and relatives behind, to a new place they are not familiar with. All four girls live relatively different lives from each other, each struggling with the fact their parents are more old-fashioned with their parenting styles compared to this new way of life they are experiencing in the United States.The Garcia family lived a rather lavish lifestyle in the Dominican Republic, but when troubles came up between Carlos disagreeing with the military dictatorship, they were left with the option to escape. Alvarez presents problems mostly centered around cultural differences. Ranging from language barriers to Carlos and Laura quickly inferring their girls need to be sent to mental hospitals, there is an obvious gap between the way of live the parents know of compared to the girls.How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents is not the easiest book to read and comprehend fully. As I have briefly mentioned, there are stories from various points in their lives from when they are young, to when they are married and have kids. As I did enjoy the original layout of the book moving back in time, it sometimes was easy to forget what the point of the plot exactly was since it was a combination of many stories not necessarily relating to one another. Due to knowledge about the book prior to reading, I was able to connect the dots before those parts were actually stated in the chapters. Additionally, I wish as though some of the stories delved further into detail enabling the audience to understand and feel more empathy with each individual character. It jumped around so much, it was hard to remember which sister was who since they all dealt with very serious problems at some point throughout their life whether that was anorexia, or not being in contact with their Dad for a long period of time. In my opinion, it would helpful if the book and it’s stories were generally organized by character. Considering the root of the book stemmed from the family needing to flee the Dominican Republic, I felt Alvarez was lacking historical context to provide the readers. I personally thought the novel would consist of more history leading up to their escape to set the scene for an attention grabbing section.I was expecting a certain kind of ending where Alvarez would leave the audience with a shocking piece of news considering the book remained pretty steady in terms of my reactions and emotions to events, yet I was pretty disappointed with the ending. I did realize I had finished it, I suppose the point of the book was to lay out short stories and have the audience put the puzzle pieces together, but I wouldn’t say there was one point when I was really engaged with the plot over another, feeling like the book could have had more substance to it. In brief, even though the book did not entirely meet my expectations, I still thought How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez was fascinating to hear a real-life story about migrants from the Dominican Republic having to familiarize themselves with the culture of the United States.

Julia Alvarez’s How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents is not your typical novel. A tale of four sisters who immigrated from the Dominican Republic, their father fleeing a dictator, is told in reverse order, with the first section set during their adult years in the US, the middle section their teen years, and the final section depicting all that led up to the defection. Furthermore, the tale is not a linear story, but rather a series of anecdotal stories, some in third person, some in first person (told by varied sisters,) and one that is told in the first person “we,” seemingly told by one of the sisters but all four are told about, and thus one gets the strange impression that all four are telling this part of the story. Strange indeed. But artful. Alvarez is a fine writer and this, her first of many books she has written in her lifetime, is a celebrated novel. First published in 1991, the story is still timely because the plight of the girls can be applied to those from any number of countries in our world today, and the immigrant experience not only appeals to immigrants but almost anyone who has grown up in the US amid racism, sexism, and anti-diversitysim. Alvarez is masterful, using this unusual method of storytelling to her advantage, always keeping us focused on these four girls as they ride the storms of their lives.

Was the first to arrive of 7 books ordered on the same day.

One can only wonder how much of the novel is plucked from the author’s own memories. Fleeing persecution in the Dominican Republic, only to find taunts and relegation to secondary status in America, seems like a difficult trajectory. Trying to figure out your self identity when caught between two cultures would be a difficult task. No wonder Yolanda teeters on a psychiatric brink. And yet, the girls were already having a hard time reconciling their personalities with the Dominican expectations for women. In the US they are freed able to experience more freedom and their sibling “band of sisters” enables them to get mutual support.

What I liked was the realism in how the characters and events were portrayed. I felt the emotions as if the situations were happening to me. I couldn't put this book down! This is an excellent choice for anyone wanting to know about Dominican Republic heritage, or about family life in a complex social and religious culture.

What was the story? Did I miss something? Couldn’t find the plot. Quite disappointing. I was very interested in learning about the immigrants experience but this book fell short.

Four sisters sharing a childhood-same parents, same extended family, same history of needing to flee their politically oppressive homeland for the safety and uncertainty of the United States. Yet each sister is her own person with her own unique story to tell. I really enjoyed getting to know each of the sisters, their fears and talents, their unique perspectives, and the dynamics of their relationships as sisters. The subjectivity of privilege is revealed through the family’s experience in two different cultures and issues of class, gender, and race are woven throughout the narrative.

I'm not going to lie about being all excited and wanting to read the book because it was an AP assignment. However, I am a fan of reading books to allow you to portray yourself at least in some remote way. I loved this book. It talks about a family, the Garcias, who are living in the time of Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, but it bases more upon the infrastructure of the family, the structure, the base. The difficulties faced by the family, especially the four Garcia girls who want to get away from their native tongue, lose their accents. Overall, I would recommend people read this book. That is, of course, if one is able to handle it because just as the book is good, is good mostly, in my opinion, because it touches upon topics considered taboo or inappropriate for the other people to read. I enjoyed reading this book.

I must say that my feelings about this novel were largely coloured by the final chapter, which included a very unpleasant (and gratuitous) incident with a cat that upset me a lot and led to me getting rid of the book shortly after. This was a pity, as there was a lot to enjoy in this skilful story of immigration. And anyone who's not as fanatical about cats as I am might not find the last chapter mattered so much.The Garcia girls - Carla, Sandra (Sandi), Yolanda (YoYo) and Sofia (Fifi) grow up in the Dominican Republic in a wealthy household, but their idyllic childhood comes to an end when their doctor father is threatened by the Trujillo dictatorship and the family is forced to move to New York. In New York, the sisters try to adapt to the American way of life in the Swinging 1960s and politically and socially conscious 1970s, to the suspicion of their very traditional father. The girls end up leading very different lives. All four marry, three get divorced, two (Sandi and Yolanda) have breakdowns. The youngest, Sofia, marries a German, and thus incurs her father's everlasting suspicion. Yolanda becomes a writer and later a university teacher. And, however American they try to be, to a greater or lesser degree all the sisters feel the pull back to their beloved Island, and the life they left there, and their memories will not leave them.Alvarez tells the story in 'reverse order' - the first part deals with the Garcia girls as adults, including Yolanda's return to the Dominican Republic to visit family, Sofia's relationship with her German husband, and Sandi and Yoyo's breakdowns; the second with their teenage and childhood experiences in the US, going further back in time with each chapter; and the final section with their memories of the Dominican Republic, starting with the decision to leave the island and going back through to early memories of Sandi and Yolanda - almost as if Alvarez is making the point that early childhood has proved the prime factor in shaping the girls' lives. The structure is very loose, almost as though the book is a series of linked short stories about the same characters, rather than a novel. There are some beautiful sections. Alvarez is also a poet, and this is apparent in her sumptuous descriptive language, particularly when she describes the Dominican Republic, and childhood memories. There are also some memorable scenes, including Yolanda's return to her native country and visit to elderly relatives, Yolanda's memories of her mother's attempts to become an inventor in their early days in New York, a birthday party the girls throw for their elderly father and Sandi's memories of childhood and of when she saw a sculptor at work in his studio. The narrative flicks between sisters and alights on certain points in their lives, missing a great deal out, and for me this was a major weakness in the book. I felt that the four sisters never quite got defined as individuals (except perhaps Yolanda, who Alvarez went on to write another book about) and that we never learnt quite enough about any of them or how their lives turned out. Carla and Fifi, in particular, were quite thinly defined and Alvarez only focused on them briefly. I also found that the 'reverse order' narrative left the book feeling slightly unfinished - for me, I would have liked a return to the present at the end to tie the story together. However, I did find that Alvarez's depictions of immigrant life in New York, and of four girls trying to adapt to a very different culture to their birth one, were moving and convincing, and I found the information about the Dominican Republic (about which I knew little) fascinating. I also liked the loving relationship (despite Carlos Garcia's conservatism) between the girls and their parents. An interesting read in all, and a quick one - I read it in a day - but I suspect there may be more content, and more detail of character in Alvarez's later novels, two of which are on my 'to read' pile.

I have chosen this book because I have already read another one by Julia Alvarez and I have liked it very much. I can say I wasn't disapppointed: You can't stop reading it, It is really entretaining. It is not exactly a novel but stories whose characters era always the four García girls; they can be read independently if you wish. Another good point of the book is that the story begins with what is happening at present and then move backwards up to the moment when the girls are small and live in Dominican Republic. You will enjoy this book.

I was assigned this book for uni work. Most book I’ve been assigned - I love, even if they aren’t my usual genre. However, this was a major thumbs down.

Haven’t read it yet. The reason for purchase is personal reading a life experience I lived through

as described