Lead Review

• Book: American Chica
• Location: Peru, Wyoming
• Author: Marie Arana

Here are two vastly different landscapes: Peru-earthquake-prone, charged with ghosts of history and mythology-and the sprawling prairie lands of Wyoming. In these rich terrains resides a colorful cast of family members who bring Arana’s historia to life…her proud grandfather who one day simply stopped coming down the stairs; her dazzling grandmother, “clicking through the house as if she were making her way onstage.” But most important are Arana’s parents: he a brilliant engineer, she a gifted musician. For more than half a century these two passionate, strong-willed people struggled to overcome the bicultural tensions in their marriage and, finally, to prevail.

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