Xochitl Gonzalez, "Olga Dies Dreaming" (Flatiron Books, 2022)
Burned By Books
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The Diaspora of New York
Olga and Brito are very American, but I wanted to celebrate the fact that despite all of this oppression and exploitation, like my culture makes lemonade out of lemons every single time. And also what is happening and why I wanted it to engage with both places so intensely is because near Rican culture is now being eradicated because of gentrification. That's a wonderful description of the historical doubling of the diaspora. This is a novel that is full on in its examination of economic inequalities. Nearly every character's arc is moved by their relationship to this inequality.
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