Praise for The Bolero of Andi Rowe:
“‘The Bolero of Andi Rowe’ shows people reconciling ideologies and loyalties that stand in opposition–or so they believe. Plummer suggests otherwise: It is possible to inhabit different worlds without compromise or contradiction. The journey is not easy, nor is it painless, but a good story only gets told like a heartfelt bolero gets played: The notes won’t come unless something’s ‘broken inside.”–Rigoberto González, El Paso Times
“A dreaminess marks Plummer’s debut collection featuring troublesome first love among young Latinos in Los Angeles’s San Gabriel Valley.”—Publishers Weekly
“Plummer’s interconnected stories are set in the San Gabriel Valley, east of Los Angeles….Her poignant stories bring alive one multicultural family yet speak universally.”–Booklist
“Evocative, poignant, sexy, funny and dense with ritual and celebration…If you listen closely, you can hear in these stories the haunting strains of the best Latin music; those long, mournful chords that tell the whole story of what happens to people as they try to make connections and succeed or fail—and try again.”—Shelf Awareness
“These are meditations on heritage, love, and coming of age—what it takes to stay rooted in an ever-expanding present. Subtle and sensual, the stories knit narratives across time.”–Jessanne Collins, Bookish, Thirteen WNET
“This work presents a diverse yet loosely connected set of stories, including those of Olivia Real and her two daughters, Andi and Maura. Though the tales are set predominantly in California’s San Gabriel Valley, Olivia’s Mexican lineage also leads readers across the border. Her visit to the Mexican graveyard where her parents are buried is captured in To Visit the Cemetery. Told from her perspective and her sister Vicenta’s, the story reveals the complexity of their family life, especially the emotional divide created when Olivia was sent to live with their grandmother in Los Angeles. This story is characteristic of the collection’s strength, exemplifying Plummer’s use of rich descriptions to share her characters’ experiences. In another exemplary piece, The Body, young Teresa Maldonado contemplates her unrequited feelings for her friend Maria while she participates in her church’s communion service as an altar server. Overall, the collection’s tone is consistently quiet, which underlines the emotional distance among characters. VERDICT This strong debut has already garnered accolades, having been honored with Curbstone Press’s Miguel Mármol Award for the first book-length fictional work by a Latin American author. Recommended for readers of literary fiction.”–Library Journal
