and a body to remember with

So far I am really enjoying Carmen Rodriguez' stories. It is really interesting how she writes about her life in Canada, and more specifically, in Vancouver! Every time she mentioned places in Vancouver it was so easy to picture it in my head, such as Stanley Park or Fraser and 49th (close to where i live.)

My favourite chapter in the first half of the book is "Black Hole". Estela describes Canada as a black hole, a place without an image. I can relate to this because when I was younger, my parents told me that we would be moving to Canada and I felt that nothing about Canada stood out to me. I couldn't even imagine how it would look like. When i arrived here I thought that it was so void of spirit and culture, even though Canada is known for its multiculturalism. I feel that because there are so many different cultures here that you can't really immerse yourself in one, or be accepted by everyone. It was so different from where I came and it seemed so cold. I was used to everybody sharing the same culture, values and giving each other a kiss on the cheek to say hello or goodbye. However, like the daughters of Estela I came to really like Vancouver.

The conversations between mother and daughter were disheartening to read. You could see how torn Estela was between her new life in Canada and her old life in Chile. Her mother was thrilled to find that Estela and her husband were off the blacklist and expected that they would be home soon. As a reader you know that Estela would have to make an important decision- to give up her new life in Canada or break her mother's heart. I really hoped that this story was longer so we can see more of Estela's life unravel.