The last few grains of sand have fallen out of my copy of Tell It to Me Singing, by Tita Ramirez, and I decided to finish this delicious debut novel at my local Cuban restaurant, Aroma Cafe Cuban Food & Sandwiches. (Pairs well with tostones and empanadas.)
I laughed and cried on this emotional journey with Mónica, the main character, a Cuban American woman who is six months pregnant when we first meet her. Soon after, she starts to learn the first clues about a family secret that will unravel everything she knows about her identity and family relationships.
It’s rich with Cuban American culture, family drama, emotional depth, political history, spicy romance, and it most definitely saved me from descending into a doom scroll during last week’s news cycle about the Trump assassination attempt when I should have been relaxing with family.
I’m extremely biased and proud. Tita’s a working mom and, like me, also married to a writer from our MFA program at UNC Greensboro. (Lordy, I tell ya, it is not easy for writer couples to find the time and space they need to WRITE!) I offer hearty applause to her for finding enough work/life balance to write this beautiful book into being.
For anyone who read Nina Riggs’s The Bright Hour, a posthumously published memoir (2017) about facing an aggressive metastatic breast cancer diagnosis, Tita is mentioned as Nina’s best friend. So, yes, I got misty-eyed seeing the dedication page to Nina before I even read the first chapter.
Brava, Tita! I’m so glad this book is in the world.
Élan Young 