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Book Review of The Noise of Infinite Longing: A Memoir of a Family--and an Island

The Noise of Infinite Longing: A Memoir of a Family--and an Island
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Luisita Lopez looks back at her life when she is summoned to her mother's funeral in Texas along with her siblings whom she has not seen in quite some time. Over the next days, she reflects/recalls her life on Puerto Rico with her brother and sisters and her parents as well as her grandparents. The family eventually dispersed with them all moving to live in various places, some in Texas to be near their mother.

The father was a Doctor but had some very strange ideas and the mother came from a high middle class background with all its accouterments, mannerisms, illusions and expectations. How this couple decided to marry and stay together for as long as they do makes for an interesting read into the culture of machismo, Catholic Religion, obligations and duties and Puerto Rico.

Luisita is the oldest in the family and feels disassociated from the family in an odd way. While young, she does not feel this attachment to P.R. as her siblings do but longs to leave the island for other places. After reminiscing following the funeral, they all come to realize how much a part of them is their culture and this tiny little island in the Caribbean called Puerto Rico.

This is a story about family, culture, mores, life, choices and acceptance.