The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien

Pages: 483 📖

Year Published: 1993 🕰️

Days to Complete: 16

Author:

Oscar Hiljuelos was an American author of Cuban descent most known for his second novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. He was born in New York City in 1951 and attended schools in the city throughout his entire education. He worked in advertising for some time before publishing his first novel Our House in the Last World which won the Rome Prize. Hijuelos taught at Hofstra and Duke University and died in 2013.

Learn More about Oscar Hijuelos

Three Words to Describe This Read:

Sexual- The sexual descriptions seemed excessive at the beginning of the book, but by the end it felt that Hijuelos was only being honest about sex and the role it plays in people’s lives instead of censoring or excluding it completely.

Plotless- There wasn’t a clear storyline to the book which irked me at first, but after becoming so accustomed to the characters, I didn’t mind going along for the ride which was their lives. It was without a plot in the same way that some days, weeks, or months of life seem meaningless and only upon review that you’re able to discern any worth.

American- Even though the parents in the story immigrated from Ireland and Cuba, they lead a life reminiscent of “The American Dream”. Despite the father leaving his home country at a young age, he was able to buy land and a house, find a well-paying job, and even live a while in Cuba, where he eventually found his wife. She didn’t work as he was able to provide for an ever-growing family. While I can’t say for sure whether this would be impossible today, it certainly feels much less likely to happen now than in the early 1900s.

Quote:

“...he thought that all things went forward, why couldn’t he?”

This quote sums up the emotions that I felt throughout the story. No matter what any of the characters experienced, their lives kept moving forward.