She starts her stories when her heroines are at a turning point, whether leaving a relationship or beginning a new one, fleeing a city or returning home, and shows that changing their situation gets them to where they need to go. Often her characters look to their heritage to lead the way, and a strong part of their heritage is language.
Dead Wrong
"Thanks, God. Thanks for the life you’ve given me, it wasn’t such a bad life. Dying at twenty-five isn’t so bad, it’s going out with a bang, right in the middle of the good part..."
Tuesdays; For Ophelias; Motherland; Backyards and BBQs; House Guests
You bought sunflower seeds, planted one for each of us. I watched you weed them until they grew four feet.
Both Sides Now
"Maybe you don’t believe,” she said, exhaling a stream of rich Cuban smoke. “And maybe you don’t miss her. Or maybe you just don’t want to because you don’t understand.”
"Understand what?”
"That you can hate something and love it at the same time.”
Sucker Punch; On Tremor; On Gratitude; My Mother, Post-Proposal; Sabbatical
Blessed I am to not be twenty two shoveling confetti cake into my mouth from the kitchen floor after a birthday party he showed up to three hours late.
The Big Things
I was a single mom during most of my kids’ childhoods. They were my life. But I felt like a loser anyway because I never dated, and had never owned a house.