Fiction and nonfiction books about immigration have flourished in the last few years since the topic has been so fraught in relation to our country's political landscape. This book again puts a human face on this issue, in this case using the characters of several women all struggling with their lives, identities as immigrants and women, and their relationships with family members and friends. It's short but very powerful.

The novel covers the lives of women in two families, starting in 19th-century Cuba through modern-day Miami. Each female protagonist is vividly drawn and even those whose stories only get a chapter or two are so vibrant, as a reader you form an attachment, celebrating their triumphs and mourning their tragedies. I was especially drawn to Jeannette, an addict trying to get her life together, but still haunted by not only the present, but also the past, particularly Ana, her neighbor's daughter who is taken by ICE and the grandmother in Cuba she's never known.

These two family trees grow with love, family, loss, hurt, pain, and hope. This book broke my heart, while also warming it with the resilience these women display as they go through the brokenness of the human experience, especially in relation to this prevalent issue, as well as the role of women in family and society in general. It's visceral and powerful.