How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water
Cara Romero thought she would work at the factory of little lamps for the rest of her life. But when, in her mid-50s, she loses her job in the Great Recession, she is forced back into the job market for the first time in decades. Set up with a job counselor, Cara instead begins to narrate the story of her life.
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Readers say *How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water* is a compelling, quick read with a unique therapy-session format that keeps readers engaged. Review...
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What’s it about?
Cara Romero is a young mother when she leaves the Dominican Republic for New York City. She arrives with a small child and hope for a better life. She finds work in a factory- and a community in Washington Heights. In 2007, the factory she has worked in most of her adult life closes and she is left unemployed in her mid-fifties. She is set up with a job counselor for twelve sessions to prepare her for the job market. In these pages we find the notes from her time with the counselor.
What did it make me think about?
What an inventive way to write a novel.
Should I read it?
Cara Romero is a memorable character! I loved Dominicana by Angie Cruz a few years ago and grabbed this off the library shelf as soon as I saw it. It again takes us to New York City and into the life of someone who is assimilating into American culture. Angie Cruz writes about this subject with such warmth, kindness, and compassion for her characters. This is a slim and hopeful book about our capacity to change. Cara Romero will both exasperate you and put a smile on your face.
Quote-
“When you need each other to survive, you forgive. That’s the way it is.”
What’s it about?
Cara Romero is a young mother when she leaves the Dominican Republic for New York City. She arrives with a small child and hope for a better life. She finds work in a factory- and a community in Washington Heights. In 2007, the factory she has worked in most of her adult life closes and she is left unemployed in her mid-fifties. She is set up with a job counselor for twelve sessions to prepare her for the job market. In these pages we find the notes from her time with the counselor.
What did it make me think about?
What an inventive way to write a novel.
Should I read it?
Cara Romero is a memorable character! I loved Dominicana by Angie Cruz a few years ago and grabbed this off the library shelf as soon as I saw it. It again takes us to New York City and into the life of someone who is assimilating into American culture. Angie Cruz writes about this subject with such warmth, kindness, and compassion for her characters. This is a slim and hopeful book about our capacity to change. Cara Romero will both exasperate you and put a smile on your face.
Quote-
“When you need each other to survive, you forgive. That’s the way it is.”
This book is a top read of mine for 2025. This book does an amazing job capturing the realities and struggles of being an immigrant of color in the USA while still being heartwarming and hilarious. Cara is impossible not to fall in love with, flaws and all.
super quick read!
really compelling narrative told “therapy session style”
wish i understood more spanish because i had to translate a bunch of words, but that’s on me haha
main character was well developed and i really empathized with her
really compelling narrative told “therapy session style”
wish i understood more spanish because i had to translate a bunch of words, but that’s on me haha
main character was well developed and i really empathized with her
“Desahogar: to undrown, to cry until you don’t need to cry no more.” “Desahogar: to undrown, to cry until you don’t need to cry no more.”
How not to drown in a glass of water is a bittersweet heartwarming story about Cara Romero told to us by Cara Romero herself over the duration of Twelve session with the job counselor as the part of The Senior workforce program for the continuation of her unemployment benefits and to find new employment after she lost her job in the lamp factory due to the recession.
The writing is witty and the character is strong and hopefully, that keeps you wanting to know more of Cara Romero life as she faces all the darkest secrets of her life with a pinch of salt or rather with a glass of water
How not to drown in a glass of water is a bittersweet heartwarming story about Cara Romero told to us by Cara Romero herself over the duration of Twelve session with the job counselor as the part of The Senior workforce program for the continuation of her unemployment benefits and to find new employment after she lost her job in the lamp factory due to the recession.
The writing is witty and the character is strong and hopefully, that keeps you wanting to know more of Cara Romero life as she faces all the darkest secrets of her life with a pinch of salt or rather with a glass of water
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