Caramelo

By: Sandra Cisneros

Narrated by: Sandra Cisneros

Lala Reyes’ grandmother is descended from a family of renowned rebozo, or shawl-makers. The striped (caramelo) is the most beautiful of all, and the one that makes its way, like the family history it has come to represent, into Lala’s possession. The novel opens with the Reyes’ annual car trip - a caravan overflowing with children, laughter, and quarrels - from Chicago to “the other side”, Mexico City. It is there, each year, that Lala hears her family’s stories, separating the truth from the “healthy lies” that have ricocheted from one generation to the next. We travel from the Mexico City that was the “Paris of the New World” to the music-filled streets of Chicago at the dawn of the Roaring Twenties - and finally, to Lala’s own difficult adolescence in the not-quite-promised land of San Antonio, Texas.

Caramelo is a vital, wise, romantic tale of homelands, sometimes real, sometimes imagined. Vivid, funny, intimate, historical, it is a brilliant work destined to become a classic: a major new novel from one of our country’s most beloved storytellers.

©2002 AudioGO (P)2002 Blackstone Publishing

100000000/10

I've never experienced an audiobook like this before. Sandra's voice throughout the book just makes the book a million times much better. It feels very intimate, like a family member is telling these stories. Will listen to this book again!

Love, family, history, and fantasy, Caramelo

Love, family, history, and fantasy, Caramelo
Sandra Cisneros beautifully intertwines and at times unravels the love story, melodrama, and fantasy that the novel Caramelos. The story of the Reyes family told by the youngest daughter with help of her family’s spirits is a wonderful portrayal of love and the Mexican and Mexican-American experience.

So many moments to remember

There are so many great lines in this book. I was wishing I had a hard copy or kindle so I could send quotes to my daughters.

a good depiction of Mexican-American life

Sandra cisneros writes the story almost like a poem, with so much imagery that it can sometimes feel overwhelming for a novel. however, being a Mexican-American myself, it actually reminded me a lot of what it was like to grow up in my home with so much going on all of the time. I definitely recommend it!

Neautiful language, Interesting characters, A bit of a soap opera.

Just beautiful language. Really enjoyable narration, story, and plot. Not much character development, but good sketching of a few characters.
I have already recommended it to others.
I should have drawn out a family tree.
No violence.
I'm learning Spanish and I enjoyed the occasional Spanish words thrown into the book and yet not translated. I could generally understand, or the plot didn't rely on knowing the translation.
Many wise observations about life.
I didn't mark any narrations, but I would have liked to. I just didn't want to interrupt the narration. but there would have been lots of good excerpts to talk with bookclub about. I wish I could just speak, "bookmark," and one would very made, rather than having to pull my phone out and go through effort of making a bookmark.