ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you, Megan Lynch, for your unwavering support, for making this book better, for ushering it into the world during the strangest of times with so much grace and vision.
Thank you, PJ Mark and Marya Spence, for being a literal dream team and my style icons. Thank you for being so fierce and dedicated and thoughtful.
Thank you, Michael Taeckens, for your zeal and your kindness and your patience, for bringing so much beautiful energy into the publication of this book.
Thank you, Lauren Bittrich, Amelia Possanza, Katherine Turro, Nancy Trypuc, Nadxieli Nieto, and everyone at Flatiron and Macmillan. Thank you, Natalie Edwards, Ian Bonaparte, and the whole team at Janklow & Nesbit. Thank you, Katy Lasell and Broadside PR.
Thank you, Roxane Gay, for your unwavering belief in this book and my writing throughout so many years. Your mentorship and guidance have shaped me in ways both large and small. I am forever changed.
Thank you, Sharon Solwitz, for your keen eye and unwavering honesty, for always believing the best version of this book was within my grasp.
Thank you, Brian Leung, for sparking my unlikely foray into elements of historical fiction and for seeing my potential.
Thank you to the Purdue M.F.A. program and to Marianne Boruch, Don Platt, Kaveh Akbar, and Terese Marie Mailhot. Thank you, Adrian Matejka and Dana Roeser, for being the first to call me a poet. Thank you, Al Lopez, for taking me under your wing. Thank you, Jeff Amos, Laura Lee, Robert Powers, Samantha Atkins, Hannah Rahimi, Juliana Goodman, Diana Clarke, John Milas, Carey Compton, Megan Denton Ray, Mitchell Jacobs, Alex Stinton, Noah Baldino, Charles Peck, Caleb Milne, and Hannah Dellabella.
Thank you to the Rona Jaffe Foundation, the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University, the Indiana Arts Commission, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Community of Writers at Squaw Valley, Lighthouse Works, and Sarabande Books for your critical support that made writing this book possible.
Thank you to all of the organizers I ever crossed paths with in the years that shaped some of this writing, in particular my compañerxs at UltraViolet and Presente. Thank you to the latter for continuing the work with Dignidad Literaria. To all of the families I met in deportation defense work, to all of the women of Karnes, thank you for your fight.
Thank you to Casa Víctor Hugo in La Habana, Association Cuba Cooperation France, and the University of Miami Cuban Heritage Collection archives.
Thank you to everyone who read early portions of this novel and provided invaluable feedback, especially Diego Iñiguez-Lopez, Yareli Urbina, Christine Vines, Robert Powers, Jake Zucker, Jesus Iñiguez, Iraida H. Lopez, Alexander Chee, Carmen Maria Machado, and Oscar Villalon.
Mi gente de Cuba: este libro no hubiera sido posible sin ustedes. Tío Jorge, gracias por creer siempre en mí y por el gran regalo de un segundo hogar lleno de tanto amor, cariño, y jodienda. Te adoro. Gracias tío Pablito y Ramses. Gracias a Sara, Lina, Madelín, Ariel, Neisy, Robney y todas mis amistades cubanas. Yolanda, Yolita, Rosa y Yoan, siempre los llevo en mi corazón.
Gracias a toda mi familia de Mexíco, en especial mi abuela Raquel, mi hermana Geraldine, y mis sobrinos Toñito, Valentina, y Fer. Gracias a Brenda, Conchis, Carlos, Pope, Andrea, Carlitos, Popito, Alejandra y todo el resto de mi familia. Tía Susie, abuelo Porfirio, y Chuchito, los extraño cada día.
Thank you, Yaneris and Zoila. Thank you, Domingo, Aasheekaa, Lala, Megan, Frank, and Kelvin. Thank you, Jake, for being a steady source of support through every single stage of this journey.
Thank you, Amanda, Tía, Allie, Diego, Ofe, Toty, and Lilia. Thank you, Dad, An, and Maya. Thank you, Frida. Gracias Abuelita por todo. THANK YOU, Mami, for everything.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
GABRIELA GARCIA is the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award and a Steinbeck Fellowship from San Jose State University. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Best American Poetry, Tin House, Zyzzyva, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere. She received an M.F.A. in fiction from Purdue and lives in the Bay Area. Of Women and Salt is her first novel. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
DEDICATION
1 — DANCE NOT BEYOND THE DISTANT MOUNTAIN
2 — EVERYTHING IS HOLDING YOU NOW
3 — AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIRDS
4 — HARDER GIRL
5 — FIND YOUR WAY HOME
6 — PREY
7 — PRIVILEGIO
8 — THEY LIKE THE GRIMY
9 — PEOPLE LIKE THAT
10 — THAT BOMBS WOULD RAIN
11 — OTHER GIRL
12 — MORE THAN WE THINK
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
COPYRIGHT
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in these stories are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
OF WOMEN AND SALT. Copyright © 2021 by Gabriela Garcia. All rights reserved. For information, address Flatiron Books, 120 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10271.
www.flatironbooks.com
Jacket Design by Adalis Martinez
Jacket art: sea © TeamDAF/iStock/Getty Images; flower © ivan-96/DigitalVision Vectors/Getty Images
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-77668-6 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-77669-3 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-250-79066-8 (international, sold outside the U.S.; subject to right availability)
eISBN 9781250776693
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First Edition: 2021
Of Women and Salt Page 19