Olga Dies Dreaming / Olga muere soñando

SPANISH LANGUAGE VERSION AVAILABLE

By: Xochitl Gonzalez

It's 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro “Prieto” Acevedo, are boldfaced names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn, while Olga is the tony wedding planner for Manhattan’s power brokers.

Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy. Sure, Olga can orchestrate the love stories of the 1 percent but she can’t seem to find her own. . . until she meets Matteo, who forces her to confront the effects of long-held family secrets.

Olga and Prieto’s mother, Blanca, a Young Lord turned radical, abandoned her children to advance a militant political cause, leaving them to be raised by their grandmother. Now, with the winds of hurricane season, Blanca has come barreling back into their lives.

Set against the backdrop of New York City in the months surrounding the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico’s history, Xochitl Gonzalez’s Olga Dies Dreaming is a story that examines political corruption, familial strife, and the very notion of the American dream—all while asking what it really means to weather a storm.

Olga y su hermano, Pedro «Prieto» Acevedo, un carismático congresista, han alcanzado un estatus privilegiado en la ciudad de Nueva York. Olga es una reconocida organizadora de bodas de la élite de la ciudad, y su trabajo es recompensado con cifras astronómicas. Su hermano, «Prieto» Acevedo, representa a la comunidad latina en su barrio natal de Brooklyn.

Lo que pocos saben es que, a pesar de sus exitosas vidas, los Acevedo se criaron con su abuela cuando su madre, Blanca, los abandonó para entregarse al activismo político con los Young Lords. Ahora, tras sobrevivir al huracán María, ella reaparece súbitamente en sus vidas.

Con el telón de fondo de la ciudad de Nueva York en los meses posteriores al devastador huracán, Olga muere soñando explora la corrupción política, los conflictos familiares y el verdadero significado del sueño americano.