The Affairs of the Falcons audiobook

Immigration, given the current political climate is such a relevant issue, not just for those who are risking their lives to get here, but those already here . This story focuses on a family already here, an undocumented family . How can we possibly know the experience without having experienced it ? How can we possibly understand the stress, the fear, the desperation to make a comfortable life for your children when you can’t afford a decent apartment ? How can we know how difficult it is to keep a job even though you have falsified papers ? How can we know how overwhelming it is that you make unwise decisions and do whatever it takes because you want to keep your family together? Or what it might be like to have to see a pharmacist for the medical needs of you and your children because you can’t take them to a doctor who might ask too many questions ? Or go to a loan shark who holds your fate in their hands in a way each time they refuse to loan you more money? You can read a book like this which does an amazing job of depicting that experience and gives a feel for what it might be like to want to escape terrorism or even the military in your home country. I’ll never truly know any of this, but I’m glad to have read this book which gave me a better understanding. This heartbreaking debut is definitely worth reading. I received an advanced copy of this book from Ecco/HarperCollins through Edelweiss.

I could not breathe while reading this book. It took my breath away. Tense, vivid, rich, real, it is a masterpiece. If you've ever been told you're less than, if you've been vulnerable, if you've done the wrong thing for the right reasons, if you've had to rely on yourself, if you've loved someone, if you've been hurt and kept going, you have got to read this novel. Stunning.

There were times while reading this book that I put my hand to my heart in sorrow. Much of the time, though, my jaw was clenched in anger. The protagonist, Ana Falcón, is a woman from Peru, trying to keep her family together by any means necessary after immigrating to New York City. There are forces and unspoken rules beyond her control everywhere she turns, determining her fate. The people around Ana seem increasingly dangerous to her well-being, from loan sharks to in-laws and more. There are moments of pure horror; one scene so intense I had to pause because I felt it unfold so viscerally. I'm talking realistic, modern day, living-in-this-world-every-day horror. The most insidious.Rivero creates an immersive experience through her protagonist; she manages to paint a portrait of Ana that is a test of the reader's empathy. Ana is doing her best, and we are privy to why she makes certain decisions. I would guess most readers are reading this novel from a privileged vantage; we will never be asked to make these same decisions or face similar circumstances. This prods you to find that common ground: you know, being human. Rivero's writing captures Ana's struggle in such a way that asks us to examine ourselves. It's powerful.I'm not sure you could read this book without having an emotional reaction. I highly recommend, and I think it'd be a great book club pick, too.

This book was phenomenal. To read this book in this political climate, when the conversations around undocumented immigrants has become so divisive, made this book even more impactful. Rivero's writing brought the characters to life, so much so that their fear, their desperation was palpable. This book made me think, made you examine my beliefs, and will stick with me for a long time.

This book was impossible to put down. Ana Falcon was such a surprising and intriguing character that I was immediately immersed in her and her family's story. I thought Melissa Rivero did a fabulous job portraying the sacrifices and difficulties that immigrants in Ana's situation might face. I definitely recommend this to everyone looking to further their understanding of what it takes to migrate to the US and establish a new life here.Thanks to Ecco and Harper Collins for providing an advanced copy via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

This novel is the story of Ana and her family who are immigrants from Peru. It deserves all the stars. Ana struggles to come up with money to pay the bills every month. She deals with difficult decisions on what she's willing to do to keep her family together. It felt incredibly real to me and extremely compelling.

Incredible!!!! Review coming soon.

Stunning in its simplicity, this book bowled me over with the all-too-relatable chaos that exists within an individual and especially within a family, which often doesn't receive the attention and care that Rivero gave to Ana here. Taking place over the winter holidays in Queens in the 1990s, Ana is floundering beneath the responsibility she has undertaken to make sure that the family she uprooted from Peru is going to thrive, no matter what it takes. Her husband Lucho lost his job and the family of 4 moved in with his cousin, Valeria's, little family, but the apartment is cramped and Ana is constantly "on". When not at work sewing in a factory for 10+ hours at a time, she runs errands and cooks and cleans and mothers both her kids and Valeria's as she runs a business and travels often. Trying to stay afloat she took out a loan from a local woman, bargaining a deed for Lucho's mother's house in Peru as collateral, and struggles to pay back the money because she is also paying back the loan she took out separately from the woman's husband and still afford life's necessities. The husband doesn't mind if she pays him back in other ways and though she is once willing, she's not sure how much longer she can play his game. When she realizes her period is late and Valeria continues to lay out her suspicion that Ana is sleeping with her husband and Lucho, tired of struggling, suggests they send their children back home or they all return to Peru, Ana reaches her breaking point. She reaches out to her childhood friend and confidant, Betty, for help and even then my heart ached for Ana and the little attention she spared for herself while, as so many women and mothers do, she chose to focus on feeding her family and keeping her children safe over seeking out her own well being. The story rang so so sadly true.

Ana, her husband Lucho, and their two children are immigrants from Peru living in NYC. They are living with Lucho’s cousin and trying to make enough money to move out and survive on their own. Lucho thinks they should return to Peru, that it is too hard to live in NYC, but Ana is desperate to give her children a better life. In her desperation she does things she doesn’t understand, and can’t tell anyone about, while always looking over her shoulder for immigration.As a mother, Ana’s story was very powerful to me. Mothers will do anything for their children and I can’t imagine how hard it is for immigrants to be constantly living in fear of being deported and separated from their families. It reminded me of my privilege and how thankful I am that I don’t have those fears.

“AFFAIRS OF THE FALCÓNS” by @melissarivero_ is a wonderful work of fiction that empathetically bridges the stories of Latinx immigration to America with the realities one undocumented family faces once arrived in the U.S. I’ve read many stories surrounding immigration, but this one most dramatically placed me in their shoes, especially as a woman and mother; one cannot possibly fault the choices Ana Falcón has to make to endure “The American Dream”. This Peruvian family’s story acutely humanizes the broader immigrant narrative and I especially appreciated the use of the Spanish language (most were decipherable as a non Spanish speaker thanks to context), and it greatly added to the authenticity.

The title of Melissa Rivero’s affective novel, The Affairs of the Falcóns, sounds like a telenovela. “Affairs” recalls the romance-centric plots of many shows, while the “Falcóns” sounds like a glamorous dynasty. I don’t know if Rivero meant for her readers to think this. If she did, she certainly turns any expectations of a stereotypical telenovela-esque novel on their heads. This book is about the hard life of Ana Falcón née Ríos, an undocumented Peruvian immigrant to the United States, who makes all the hard decisions in her family...Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss, for review consideration.