A beautiful, serious and life-affirming book.” — Washington Post
“At a time when the United States is wracked with debates about what constitutes a ‘real’ American, this rendering of the immigrant experience couldn’t be more important.” — Refinery 29
“Rivero’s talent for storytelling and sympathetic portrayal of many characters propels this novel above the melodrama of the telenovelas that play in the background on Valeria’s television. Book groups will thoroughly enjoy this vivid, inspired debut, a valuable addition to immigration literature.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“Timely and beautifully rendered.... Rivero succeeds in drawing to light the challenges many new immigrants face.... A complex and compelling portrait of Latin American immigrants and the experience of undocumented families.” — Booklist
“A nuanced look at the human cost of immigration policy.... This is, obviously, a book that has a lot to say to our current moment, but it also has an emotional appeal that is timeless and universal. Thoughtful and eye-opening, this is an admirable debut.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Melissa Rivero writes about love with all of its beauty, fierceness, and complications: of motherhood and hard choices, the bonds of family and homeland, and the sacrifices made for survival and a better future. Ana Rios is an unforgettable character and a necessary American hero.” — Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers
“Melissa Rivero is a gifted writer with a clear view of the human heart. This novel shows us new things. It’s a winner.” — Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The House of Broken Angels and The Devil’s Highway
“An unsparing look at the world of the undocumented through the life of Peruvian immigrant Ana Falcón and her family.... Melissa Rivero’s The Affairs of the Falcóns does poetic justice to this riveting tale of identity, belonging, and transformation.” — Cristina García, author of Dreaming in Cuban and Here in Berlin
“The Affairs of the Falcóns is a powerfully honest testament to the strength of immigrant mothers. May we all see them, honor them, and fight for them in the way Melissa Rivero sees, honors, and fights for Ana Rios, free of judgement and full of love.” — Natalia Sylvester, author of Chasing the Sun and Everyone Knows You Go Home
“Beautiful.... The theme is immigration, but at heart, this is a story about family—the long-standing tensions, the profound bonds, the depth of spousal, parental and filial love. It’s at once a timeless work and a book we urgently need now.” — Rumaan Alam, author of That Kind of Mother
An unsparing look at the world of the undocumented through the life of Peruvian immigrant Ana Falcón and her family.... Melissa Rivero’s The Affairs of the Falcóns does poetic justice to this riveting tale of identity, belonging, and transformation.”
Melissa Rivero writes about love with all of its beauty, fierceness, and complications: of motherhood and hard choices, the bonds of family and homeland, and the sacrifices made for survival and a better future. Ana Rios is an unforgettable character and a necessary American hero.
The Affairs of the Falcóns is a powerfully honest testament to the strength of immigrant mothers. May we all see them, honor them, and fight for them in the way Melissa Rivero sees, honors, and fights for Ana Rios, free of judgement and full of love.”
Beautiful.... The theme is immigration, but at heart, this is a story about family—the long-standing tensions, the profound bonds, the depth of spousal, parental and filial love. It’s at once a timeless work and a book we urgently need now.
At a time when the United States is wracked with debates about what constitutes a ‘real’ American, this rendering of the immigrant experience couldn’t be more important.”
Timely and beautifully rendered.... Rivero succeeds in drawing to light the challenges many new immigrants face.... A complex and compelling portrait of Latin American immigrants and the experience of undocumented families.
A beautiful, serious and life-affirming book.”
Melissa Rivero is a gifted writer with a clear view of the human heart. This novel shows us new things. It’s a winner.
Timely and beautifully rendered.... Rivero succeeds in drawing to light the challenges many new immigrants face.... A complex and compelling portrait of Latin American immigrants and the experience of undocumented families.
A beautiful, serious and life-affirming book.”
An unsparing look at the world of the undocumented through the life of Peruvian immigrant Ana Falcón and her family.... Melissa Rivero’s The Affairs of the Falcóns does poetic justice to this riveting tale of identity, belonging, and transformation.”
2019-01-21
A nuanced look at the human cost of immigration policy.
It's New York in the 1990s. Ana Falcón works as a seamstress. Her husband, Lucho, is driving a cab. Along with their two small children, the Falcóns are living with Lucho's cousin's family. The pressures—personal, financial—that Ana faces will be recognizable to most readers, but the fact that the Falcóns are undocumented immigrants adds a layer of complexity and peril to every choice they make. Ana and Lucho are limited in the kinds of jobs they can find and vulnerable to employers willing to hire workers illegally. Housing is hard to come by, and they know that their welcome with extended family is not indefinite. With no access to banks, they are forced to do business with loan sharks. Rivero offers a portrait of the immigrant experience that will undoubtedly ring true to many, but she also writes with great specificity. She offers insight into the economic and political instability that drove Ana and Lucho to leave Peru, and she depicts the ways in which class and race factor into the lives of the Falcóns. Ana's background is rural and indigenous. Terrorists and soldiers were a threat to her and her mother. Lucho's family is from Lima, and these differences color Ana's relationship with Lucho's cousin Valeria. Ana is a very well-crafted protagonist, sympathetic but not perfect. Her situation is circumscribed, but Rivero gives her considerable agency—including the freedom to make dubious choices. This is, obviously, a book that has a lot to say to our current moment, but it also has an emotional appeal that is timeless and universal.
Thoughtful and eye-opening, this is an admirable debut.
