The Things We Didn’t Know
When in the opening pages of The Things We Didn’t Know, Raquel—the mother of the heroine Andrea—nearly drives her husband’s car off a cliff, readers intuit they are in for an adventure. But whereas Raquel’s first attempt to leave the factory town of Woronoco, Massachusetts, as well as her husband Luis, to return to her beloved native Puerto Rico is thwarted, her second try in 1959 is crowned by success.
After Raquel, Andrea, and her brother Pablo arrive on the island, Cecilia, aka Titi Machi, Raquel’s loveable sister, welcomes them on her farm near Caguas. Thanks to Cecilia, Andrea and Pablo experience an enchanted summer exploring the countryside and enroll in the local school. In the meantime, Raquel, who has abandoned her children, resurfaces. She is determined to take Andrea and Pablo to live with her second, far poorer sister, to collect child support. After Luis finally tracks Andrea and Pablo down and takes them back to Woronoco, they witness its transformation into a lively Puerto Rican community against the backdrop of a radically changing and conflicted 1960s America. While Andrea studies, marries, and finds happiness, Pablo, who has always suffered more from their divided childhood than his sister, struggles with his sense of identity. In the end, familial love and devotion save even those who would otherwise be lost.
A sparkling, vivacious portrait of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican diaspora, The Things We Didn’t Know is peopled with inimitable, larger-than-life characters. The novel is strongest in its evocation of childhood, when Andrea’s brilliant powers of observation and her capacity for joy and love render the novel’s atmosphere the most compelling.
