Carmen and Grace
As seen:
By Melissa Coss Aquino
avg rating
1 review
‘Powerful’ Sunday Times
‘Electric’ Danya Kukafka
‘Vital’ Katie Gutierrez
‘A triumph’ Alice Ryan
‘A powerful read’ Heat
‘Read this book!’ Angie Cruz
‘An instant classic’ Morning Star
‘Deserves all the hype’ Glamour
‘Crackles with life’ Xochitl Gonzalez
‘The book of the year’ Rene Denfeld
Carmen and Grace have been inseparable since they were little girls – more like sisters than cousins, survivors of a childhood marked by neglect and addiction. For too long, all they had was each other.
That is, until Doña Durka swept into their lives and changed everything, taking Grace into her home and playing an outsize role in Carmen’s upbringing too.
But Durka is more than a beneficent force in their Bronx neighbourhood. She’s also the leader of an underground drug empire, a larger-than-life matriarch who understands the importance of taking what power she can in a world too often ruled by violent men.
So when Durka dies suddenly, Carmen and Grace’s lives are thrown into chaos. Grace has been primed to take over and has grand plans to expand the business, but Carmen is ready to move on – from Durka’s shadow, and from always looking over her shoulder in fear.
As tough and tender as its main characters, Carmen and Grace is a devastatingly wise and intimate story about the bonds of female friendship, ambition and found family.
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Reviews from our reading group so far:
"5/5 - Amazing book, vey well written and throughout. Amazing theme of mothers and strength. Deeper meanings of family and love and loyalty. I loved this book so much. "
"3/5 - I was really excited about the concept for the book but found it did not live up to expectations. I liked the idea of having two different viewpoints from Grace & Carmen but Grace in particular seemed like a totally different character in the two halves of the book and I could not really understand how her behaviours had been interpreted so differently by Carmen. There also seemed to be a lot of other characters who I didnt feel were very well developed. The other thing I found very irritating was the lines of non translated Spanish - I struggled to understand if it was important for me to translate them and if not what was the point of having them in the story. Overall, the book had a lot of potential but didn't quite work for me."
