The Sunday Tertulia

by Lori Marie Carlson

Book Overview

Claire is a young, struggling New Yorker whose understanding of life is enriched after a group of older and wiser Latina women bring her into a close-knit circle: their Upper West Side tertulia . Once... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060195363
• ISBN13: 9780060195366
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.67 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.0" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

Women I would love to know.

I would love to spend a Sunday afternoon with Claire and her passionate and intelligent friends. This novel is a high note in my summer reading. My friends don't want to put it down. We can all learn from the tertulia women. They shine como estrellas!

Older Is Wiser

Advice takes center stage in this story of a young New York career woman who finds companionship and support with a group of older Latin American ladies. And, as the author traces the deepening relationship growing among this unique sisterhood, readers are reminded of the rich mix of cultures in our country and the fact that human emotions know no borders. Claire came to Manhattan shortly after college because she sensed "the possibility of speeding toward something powerful." "I sought adventure, exploration" she says. "New York beckoned with its endless avenues, chance encounters, and whirlwind of people and ideas." She found that and more - she found Isabella, a wise Latina who invited the younger woman to her apartment on Sunday afternoons where she hosted "festive tertulias," happy blends of conversation and lunch. To her delight and edification Claire found that the food was always good, and the company even better as topics of conversation covered the gamut from marriage to motherhood, from courage to fear, and from relaxation to work. She is befriended by Aroma, "a world traveler who happens to be an excellent gynecologist and Mexican down to her purple-polished toenails" and "the brainy Sonia, an Argentine by birth, who never fails to entertain us with her encyclopedic knowledge of literature and history, whether or not we want to hear it." Other group members are Luna, a Peruvian chef, whose "meat turnovers are remarkably succulent because she always adds a jigger of pisco liquor to the filling," Pearl, a Bolivian American painter, and Winifred, "an elegant landscape architect from Chile." Sunday afternoons are laced with recitals of cherished Latin American customs, nuggets of history, smile-provoking anecdotes, and sometimes contradictory sermonettes. Through it all Claire is exposed to ideas she might never have encountered and enabled to see her struggles, problems, and successes through a greater looking glass. A bilingual Spanish/English writer and translator and married to the esteemed novelist Oscar Hijuelos, Lori Marie Carlson has penned an unassuming yet touching debut, a languid tale highlighted by the magic of words and the power of ideas.