The Dirty Girls Social Club - Softcover

Valdes-Rodriguez, Alisa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312313829 ISBN 13: 9780312313821

Publisher: Griffin, 2004

Synopsis

Alisa Valdés-Rodríguez's vibrant, can't-put-it-down novel of six friends--each one an unforgettable Latina woman in her late '20s--and the complications and triumphs in their lives

Inseparable since their days at Boston University almost ten years before, six friends form the Dirty Girls Social Club, a mutual support and (mostly) admiration society that no matter what happens to each of them (and a lot does), meets regularly to dish, dine and compare notes on the bumpy course of life and love.

Las sucias are:

--Lauren, the resident "caliente" columnist for the local paper, which advertises her work with the line "her casa is su casa, Boston," but whose own home life has recently involved hiding in her boyfriend's closet to catch him in the act
--Sara, the perfect wife and mother who always knew exactly the life she wanted and got it, right down to the McMansion in the suburbs and two boisterious boys, but who is paying a hefty price
--Amber, the most idealistic and artistic member of the club, who was raised a valley girl without a word of Spanish and whose increasing attachment to her Mexica roots coincides with a major record label's interest in her rock 'n' roll
--Elizabeth, the stunning black Latina whose high profile job as a morning television anchor conflicts with her intensely private personal life, which would explain why the dates the other dirty girls set her up on never work out
--Rebecca, intense and highly controlled, who flawlessly runs Ella, the magazine she created for Latinas, but who can't explain why she didn't understand the man she married and now doesn't even share a room with; and
--Usnavys, irrepressible and larger than life, whose agenda to land the kind of man who can keep her in Manolo Blahniks and platanos almost prevents her seeing true love when it lands in her lap.

There's a lot of catching up to do.

About this title

Review:

The Dirty Girls Social Club closely resembles Terry McMillan's Waiting to Exhale: a handful of young women seek real love and job satisfaction. Unlike McMillan, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez has completely thrown out any literary pretensions whatsoever, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Dirty Girls is a fun, easy, ultimately charming read, not least because the girls themselves are so appealing.

Six Latina women become fast friends at Boston University and thereafter meet as a group every few months. Now in their late 20s, they're each on the cusp of the life they want. The novel is narrated in turn by each woman. Feisty Lauren has a column at the Boston Globe, but can't help falling for losers; ghetto-elegant Usnavys is trying to find a man to match her own earning power and expensive tastes; uptight Rebecca is a successful magazine publisher and an unsuccessful wife; beautiful TV anchor Elizabeth has a secret; Sara leads a Martha-Stewart-perfect life as a homemaker; and Amber is a hopeful rock musician in LA.

The novel works because Valdes-Rodriguez has compassion for her characters; each is faulted, but none is culpable. She also has an eye for the telling detail, as when Rebecca tries to befriend her white husband's stuffy family: "His sister took step classes with me and we shopped for clothes together on Newbury Street and went to the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum one afternoon with Au Bon Pain sandwiches in our handbags." Something about those sandwiches makes the whole enterprise seem more poignant.

On the down side, Valdes-Rodriguez is so eager to make things work out for her ladies that her writing sometimes beggars belief. Men actually say things like "Swear to me you're happily married and I'll stop pursuing you". Yes, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez is, in fact, the Latina Terry McMillan. That is, if McMillan were a slighty guiltier pleasure. --Claire Dederer, Amazon.com

Review:

"Valdes-Rodriguez' novel delivers on the promise of its sexy title (with a) diverse group of women that defies stereotypes. The book addresses serious questions-prejudice, the difficulty of winning respect from Latino men-but balances them with enough romances...to satisfy any chick lit fan. This is a fun, irresistible debut." --Publishers Weekly

"Valdes-Rodriguez' compelling characters are enhanced by their racial identities but not at all inaccessible to the non-Hispanic...an enjoyable read." --San Antonio Express-News

..".the summer's must-have beach book." --Latina magazine

..".Valdes-Rodriguez has written an incredible first novel, told in six distinct voices and points of view." --Library Journal

..".a heartfelt, fast-moving, and often funny page-turner." --Booklist

"The writing is strong, fluid, and sometimes laugh-out loud funny." --Pioneer Press

"(an) affecting debut that takes a long, hard, and funny look at life in the U.S. for Latina women...an upscale telenovela with well-drawn, charmingly flawed characters from an author who explodes some myths." --Kirkus Reviews

"Dirty Girls sets out to prove Latina can mean anything-black, white, rich, poor, Spanish-speaking, not Spanish-speaking." --The Miami Herald

..".a fresh spin on the best-of-friends novel that's funny, touching, and exhilarating. A winner!" --Jennifer Crusie

..".in the end, it's the complex, finely drawn characters who make the book work." --Rocky Mountain News

"This lively debut novel...reads like the Hispanic version of Waiting to Exhale." --New York

"As a guilty pleasure it ranks somewhere between Valrhona chocolate and Jimmy Choo shoes-I simply could not put it down." --Whitney Otto, author of How to Make an American Quilt

"The Latina community has a rich new voice and Valdez-Rodriguez is it." --Jeffrey Kluger, coauthor of Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13

"This season's most scrumptious book...a summer must." --Advocate

"Those who liked The Joy Luck Club or The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood will enjoy The Dirty Girls Social Club...It is heartfelt, fast-moving, and often funny." --Oklahoman

"Marked by fast-paced dialogue and a pop-culture sensibility, this engaging novel, each section of which is written from a different woman's perspective, carries an unmistakable message." --Book

About this edition

• Publisher: Griffin
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0312313829
• ISBN 13: 9780312313821
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320