Reviewed by Frank Mundo
In poet Melinda Palacio‘s debut novel, Ocotillo Dreams, we meet a young woman named Isola, a green-eyed, “exotic-looking” Mexican-American “often mistaken for Thai or Filipino” whose mother’s death couldn’t have come at a worse time in her life. Just one fellowship short of becoming a full professor in San Francisco, Isola, drowning in credit card debt, lawyer fees and student loans, is suddenly forced to put her future on hold to settle her mother’s estate in Chandler, Arizona.
Ocotillo Dreams
by Melinda Palacio
Bilingual Review Press
(July, 2011: 198 pages)
Paperback: $16.00
Reviewed by Frank Mundo
In poet Melinda Palacio‘s debut novel, Ocotillo Dreams, we meet a young woman named Isola, a green-eyed, “exotic-looking” Mexican-American “often mistaken for Thai or Filipino” whose mother’s death couldn’t have come at a worse time in her life. Just one fellowship short of becoming a full professor in San Francisco, Isola, drowning in credit card debt, lawyer fees and student loans, is suddenly forced to put her future on hold to settle her mother’s estate in Chandler, Arizona.
Her plan is to temporarily relocate to Chandler, pack up her mother’s house and sell it as quickly as possible and return to her life in San Francisco. With the help of her lawyer, Isola figures the whole process should only take a couple of weeks at most. But Isola, self-absorbed and a bit spoiled, has more baggage than she realizes. The self-proclaimed “reigning champ of awkward moments,” Isola discovers Cruz Zarate, a handsome stranger sleeping in her mother’s house, which is just one of the many startling secrets of her mother’s hidden life that challenge Isola’s understanding of her troubled relationship with her mother, her unresolved issues with her father’s death (and her inheritance) and her strange obsession over the break-up with her boyfriend three years before.
To make matters worse, it’s 1997, and the political climate over immigration issues in Arizona has reached its boiling point, creating an environment of uncertainty and fear that deeply divides the community on both sides of the issue. In fact, Arizona legislators have enacted a law that, in essence, permits racial profiling which the police in Chandler enforce through an action called Operation Restoration – five days of sweeps and raids to identify, arrest and deport as many undocumented immigrants as possible.
We follow Isola on her quest to put her past behind her and the lessons she learns along the way; lessons of love, politics, her relationships with family and her connection to the community – and one lesson she seems to learn a little too late.
Melinda Palacio writes with confidence and charm and without that preachy and pretentious tone that can quickly ruin a story like Ocotillo Dreams. My only complaint, which is very minor, would be the two-page prologue, which is written in a “poetic” style that doesn’t, for this reviewer, truly represent the skillful pacing and prose of this otherwise thoughtful, compelling and confident debut novel which I highly recommend for serious readers and students of the novel.