Abuela in Shadow, Abuela in Light (Living Out: Gay and Lesbian Autobiog) (Paperback)
Standing over two graves, Rigoberto González studies the names "Ramon" and "María" under the family name "González." "She was María Carrillo, not María González," he thinks. His grandmother is missing. So begins González's memoir, a journey to recover a more complete picture of his grandmother, who raised him following his mother's death.
Rigoberto González, distinguished professor of English and director of the MFA program in creative writing at Rutgers University-Newark, is the author of eighteen books of poetry and prose. Recipient of the PEN/Voelcker Award, the Bill Whitehead Lifetime Achievement Award, and Lannan, Guggenheim, USA Rolón, and NEA fellowships, he was the finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for a previous memoir, What Drowns the Flowers in Your Mouth.
"Abuela in Shadow, Abuela in Light is medicine for readers who, like Rigoberto González, have come out of backgrounds froth with intergenerational poverty, domestic violence, and unspoken sexual abuse. Now ‘middle-aged,’ González shows in his latest memoir that recovery is possible when one is willing to confront the past, present, and even what may come with honesty, compassion, and without assigning blame, especially to oneself.”—Ana Castillo, author of Black Dove
“A poignant homage to the author’s Indigenous grandmother as well as an exploration of deep-seated family abuse. . . . The narrative moves in thematic segments, gradually revealing a tender kinship between the hard-shelled abuela and the empathetic author—a precious connection amid a family scarred by domestic violence and intergenerational poverty. An alternately touching and shocking narrative.”—Kirkus Reviews
“A moving and lyrical tribute. . . . No real reconciliation is given in González’s elegiac narrative, but there’s much wisdom to be found in his story of intergenerational silence and the ‘unresolved’ pasts one inherits. Pain begets beauty in this poignant family reckoning.”—Publishers Weekly
“A poignant homage to the author’s Indigenous grandmother as well as an exploration of deep-seated family abuse. . . . The narrative moves in thematic segments, gradually revealing a tender kinship between the hard-shelled abuela and the empathetic author—a precious connection amid a family scarred by domestic violence and intergenerational poverty. An alternately touching and shocking narrative.”—Kirkus Reviews
“A moving and lyrical tribute. . . . No real reconciliation is given in González’s elegiac narrative, but there’s much wisdom to be found in his story of intergenerational silence and the ‘unresolved’ pasts one inherits. Pain begets beauty in this poignant family reckoning.”—Publishers Weekly