Family Lore

Matilde Marte is a primary character. She is the daughter of Mamá Silvia and Papá Susano, the younger sister of Samuel, and the older sister of Flor, Pastora, and Camila. She wants children but miscarried five times. However, Matilde is a mother figure to her nieces and is particularly attached to Yadi, whose shop she helps run. She is married to the unfaithful Rafa, a singer she met in a discoteca. Due to her mother’s talk of gender dynamics (specifically, women’s duty to be faithful to their husbands), she is unable to stand up for herself. Unlike Flor, Pastora, and Camila, Matilde lacks a magical gift, but believes she created one through dancing. At war with her body since her teenage years, she showcases growth by rejecting Rafa and her teacher’s son, baseball player Kelvyn, to teach dancing for herself and herself alone.

Pastora Marte is a primary character. She is the daughter of Mamá Silvia and Papá Susano, the younger sister of Samuel, Matilde, and Flor, and the older sister of Camila. She is also the mother of Yadi and married to Manuelito. For most of her childhood, Pastora was considered a curse by her mother, who suffered several miscarriages until Camila was born. As she grew, her relationship with her mother was further strained by a false accusation of theft by the Santana family—which led to Pastora being sent to her aunt La Vieja, who abused her (often under the spiritual possession of her own gift) until Flor saved her. Like Flor and Camila, Pastora has a magical gift—truth-hearing (lie detection). Like Flor in particular, she is often discomforted by her power, the lies and secrets she unwillingly hears. She is brash and blunt, but when it comes to her family, she is protective—sometimes overly so.

Anacaona “Ona” Marte is a primary character, with the final chapter revealing her as the novel’s (research project’s) writer. She is the daughter of Flor and Pedro, a presumably bisexual woman who has had two serious partners—college girlfriend Soraya and husband Jeremiah, with whom she is struggling to conceive after a uterine surgery. Ona’s relationship with her mother is loving if constraining, while her relationship with her father was contentious due to his alcoholism. However, she and her father share a love of pornography, which he indirectly introduced to her. Like Flor, Pastora, and Camila, she has a magical gift in the form of an “alpha vagina”—which affects others through its taste, smell, and feel. Ona is protective of her family—especially her mother and Yadi—and thus preserves her family’s history as an anthropological research project. By the end of the novel, she becomes pregnant as Flor dies.

Yadira “Yadi” Marte de Polanco is a primary character. She is the daughter of Pastora and Manuelito. When she emigrated to America with her parents, she befriended Ant and planned to return to the Dominican Republic with him when they were older—only for him to be arrested for gang affiliation and incarcerated for 18 years. Yadi is described as the “quietest of [the] nieces and nephews, a girl who asked sharp but not prying questions. All Yadi’s years in therapy had taught her to probe gently” (15). Prone to panic attacks, she often finds herself detracting from stressful situations such as Ant’s return. When he was convicted, leaving her inconsolable, Pastora sent her to Mamá Silvia in the Dominican Republic to heal. Yadi developed a loving relationship with her grandmother, unlike her aunts. Like the other Marte women, she has a magical gift in the form of limes (an instinct to add either acidity or sweetness to conversations). Despite initially hating limes, she developed a taste for them after Silvia died, establishing an inheritance from grandmother to granddaughter. By the end of the novel, Yadi formally rejects Ant as a romantic partner and plans to visit the Dominican Republic to heal again.

Mamá Silvia is a secondary character. She is the mother of Samuel, Matilde, Flor, Pastora, and Camila, and was married to Papá Susano. She is the daughter of Abuela Eugenia and sister of La Vieja. Silvia’s marriage to Susano was seen as shameful by her family, since he worked others’ fields. She is protective of her children, but reared most of them with an iron fist, even verbal abuse. To reestablish herself in her family and avoid further shame, she ignored Pastora’s abuse by La Vieja and Matilde’s desire to leave Rafa. Though Silvia never voiced her love, her quiet rage at the Santana family for accusing Pastora of theft speaks to her frustration and guilt. Though she cultivates a good relationship with Camila and Yadi, all of her children ultimately emigrate and leave her alone in the Dominican Republic until she dies.

Camila Marte is a secondary character. She is the daughter of Mamá Silvia and Papá Susano, and the younger sister of Samuel, Matilde, Flor, and Pastora. Significantly younger than her siblings, she has a more loving relationship with their mother. After Camila is almost sexually assaulted by the same Santana boy who falsely accused Pastora of theft, Silvia seeks to protect the family by having Camila marry. She finds her a husband named Washington, who, though kind and wealthy, is unable to have sex. When she becomes pregnant by another man, Washington accepts the child as his own. Eventually, the couple emigrate to America, where Camila continues to live more lavishly than her sisters. Like Flor and Pastora, she has a magical gift—brewing. Despite her lifestyle, she feels forgotten and pressured to prove her worth to her older sisters. Camila has a good relationship with Matilde, as the latter stayed with her and their mother for a period, and the two sisters lack powerful gifts like Flor’s and Pastora’s.