Dear Great Book Guru, Every morning, my friends and I meet at Sea Cliff Beach for breakfast.  It’s great fun and the food is delicious!  Yesterday one of the group mentioned a debut novel by a Peruvian woman about life as an undocumented immigrant in the 1990’s.  It sounded like a good book to read as the summer winds down.  Are you familiar with it?                    Lover of Sea Cliff Beach Hut

Dear Lover of Sea Cliff Beach Hut, I enjoyed Melissa Rivero’s THE AFFAIRS OF THE FALCONS very much.  Ana Falcon and her husband Lucho came to New York City from Lima, Peru with their two young children to escape economic and political turmoil.  Things are going well for the hardworking young couple until Lucho loses his job and they are forced to move in with his cousin and her family. The strain of living in one room with an increasingly reluctant host grows unbearable.  In desperation, Ana becomes involved with a sinister loan shark and her predatory husband.  Working ever longer shifts at a local factory, Ana realizes her family’s undocumented status may prevent them from ever climbing out of debt. When her husband talks of returning to Peru, she lashes out at him and when others suggest she send the children back, she becomes even more embittered.  Pervading the novel is her growing fear of being deported.  This is a tale of powerful love and quiet desperation. Highly recommended!