Uncovering Silent Secrets: The Untold Conversations in “What My Father and I Don’t Talk About”
I took particular delight in several of the essays. Jaquira Díaz’s “Un Verano en Nueva York” hauntingly describes a deepening connection with her father, one in which she learns more and more about his past in Puerto Rico and in New York, where he falls in love with Aisha, his first wife. Ms. Díaz recreates this for the reader, using the present tense for greater power: “It happens so fast. They know each other only a few short months when they find out she’s pregnant; all the roommates move out, and she moves into his apartment in Los Sures. Her parents do not approve of her decisions. What kind of future will she have with this stranger who blew into her life like a hurricane?”
