#10 Issue: The Four Dominican Girls

Hello and welcome to the tenth issue of A Story for the Week!

The story of the week is How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, a novel by Dominican-American writer, Julia Alvarez.

Published in 1991, How the García Girls Lost Their Accents is a novel that tells the story of four García girls and their parents who were forced to leave their lovely Dominican home and start their lives all over in the US. The novel takes place from 1956 until 1989, and even though the book clearly states it’s a work of fiction, it’s clear it was inspired by the political instability in the Dominican Republic under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Nicknamed El Jefe, Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic for 31 years, and was responsible for up to 50,000 murders, even outside the island.

How the García Girls Lost Their Accents established itself as one of the most important pieces of immigrant literature, namely because it deals with themes such as acculturation and defining one’s identity in a foreign country. However, I chose to feature this novel in my newsletter because it has a fun and unique structure. Instead of standard chronological narration, the novel opts for the reverse one. So, instead of starting off with the events prior to the Garcías moving to the USA, the novel initially tells the story of Yolanda coming back to the island to visit the rest of her family and moves back in time from that point.

The novel consists of 15 stories, divided into three sections, and it leaves an impression as if it’s an old family album and you’re sifting through photos. Each story is a slice of life and it focuses on one of the García girls, with Yolanda’s sections coming up more often. However, each story contributes to the grand narrative, helping you understand the relationship between the García girls and their parents and how they were torn between their traditional upbringing and the new and modern world of the US. On top of this, the girls are just trying to find their own path, whether that means becoming a poet, a mother, or just falling in love with the right man.

In How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, Alvarez uses short and sweet sentences, and it’s a really easy read. Alvarez is a true narrator, and her main focus in the book is depicting the relationships between the Garcías, the atmosphere, and the emotions, namely fear and insecurity. There aren’t any lengthy descriptions or elaborate, all-encompassing sentences. Instead, each next sentence is used to drive the story forward and flesh out these very complex girls.

Although this novel is a critical piece of literature for immigrants, I enjoyed it because it highlighted how incredibly silly and rebellious we are as children and teenagers. It’s a Bildungsroman, meaning it deals with coming of age and maturation. However, the García girls have a harder time growing up and fitting in because they are constantly in conflict with their very traditional parents and upbringing and the modern American culture.

In the end, I have a feeling How the García Girls Lost Their Accents is about two main things—growing up and immigration. If you, just like me, didn’t have to deal with immigration, this book will touch you because of its funny, witty, and sentimental elements of growing up. We all made stupid mistakes while growing up, and looking back at those right now is painful, but they shaped you, and helped you become who you are. It’s really fun to get to read about those stories, without facing the consequences.

As usual, let’s wrap up with a handful of quotes from the story:

“Each of the four girls had the same party dress, school clothes, underwear, toothbrush, bedspread, nightgown, plastic cup, towel, brush and comb set as the other three, but the first girl brushed in yellow, the second one boarded the school bus in blue, the third one slept in pink, and the baby did everything she pleased in white.”

“These Latin women, even when the bullets are flying and the bombs are falling, they want to make sure you have a full stomach, your shirt is ironed, your handkerchief is fresh.”

“She was always in a bad mood—not exactly a bad mood, but you couldn’t get her to crack a smile or cry or anything. It was like all her emotions were spent, on account of everything she went through in her young years.”

Once again, thank you for subscribing to my newsletter and helping me achieve my dream of becoming a stay-at-home writer. Your support means the world to me and, honestly, it gives me a reason to continue doing this.

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