Angie Cruz

Angie Cruz is the author of the novels Soledad and Let It Rain Coffee, a finalist in 2007 for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. She is founder and Editor-in-Chief of Aster(ix), a literary and arts journal, and is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh.
Angie Cruz’s Dominicana (Flatiron Books) is a snapshot of the immigrant experience and the timeless coming-of-age story of a young woman finding her voice in the world. Ana Cancion, a 15-year-old Dominican girl, accepts a marriage proposal by a man twice her age who promises to take her to New York City. There is no love between them, but their marriage is an opportunity for her entire close-knit family to eventually immigrate. But lonely and miserable, confined to a cold six-floor walk-up in Washington Heights, she decides to escape, only to ran at the bus station into her husband’s younger brother who convinces her to stay. As the Dominican Republic slides into political turmoil, her husband returns to protect his family’s assets and leaves her with his brother. Suddenly, Ana is free to imagine a different life in America. When he returns, she must decide once again between her heart and her duty to her family. The Houston Chronicle said “Ana as narrator is mesmeric, funny, enchanting…A story of sacrifice, strength, and love.”