Review: Carmen Rita’s (Latinx) American Dream
By hola | Published | No Comments
Carmen Rita’s novel, “Never Too Late,” follows four Latina friends as they navigate real-world issues dealing with parenting, relationships, prejudice, and professional success. The novel expands on Rita’s earlier book, Never Too Real, which introduces the group’s intertwined lives as career-driven yet family-oriented women.
Each woman finds herself struggling with a work-life balance as racism, estranged siblings, incarcerated parents, and ghosts of the past cause chaos in their lives. Much like many book and television storylines, the individuals’ plots cross one another’s frequently. The book’s common theme is one of affirmation: how Latina women can be and are successfully living the American dream.
I want to give women, especially Latinas, who have always been the pillars in their families, the ability to be vulnerable and be OK with it, a bit of permission to do that,” Rita told Vibe Magazine. “It’s then that we realize that we’re not alone, that we are communities and families, and we’re huge.”
Her writing, both “Never Too Real” and “Never Too Late” are based on own life and the lives of her friends who are successful women of color, Rita told Vibe. “People don’t see enough of it—successful Latinas, successful women of color.”
Rita is also the CEO and founder of Malecon Productions, a television host on CNBC’s “On the Money,” and a advice columnist for magazines such as Glamour, Latina, Essence, Men’s Health and Good Housekeeping, among her other professional highlights.
She spends a considerable amount of the book focusing on the details of each woman’s appearance, personality and backstory. The downside is that paragraphs and pages feel inundated with wordy explanations that distract from the central plot of the story. However, it allows readers to catch up on the characters and storyline without having read the book’s 2016 predecessor.
“Never Too Late” by Carmen Rita. Kensington Publishing Corporation
—Bria Charlei Baylor
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