American Chica (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Marie Arana
- First Published: 2001
- Type of Work: Memoirs
- Time of Work: The late 1940’s through the early 1960’s
- Setting: Cartavio and Lima, Peru; Rawlins, Wyoming; Summit, New Jersey
- Principal Characters: Marie (“Marisi”) Arana, Jorge Enrique (“Papi”) Arana, Marie Elverine Clapp Campbell Arana, Rosa Cisneros y Cisneros de Arana, Victor Manuel Arana Sobrevilla, James Bayard (“Grandpa Doc”) Clapp
- Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Essays
- Subjects: 1950’s, 1960’s, Family or family life, United States or Americans, Mothers, Parents and children, Love or romance, Twentieth century, Superstition, Marriage, 1940’s, Fathers, New Jersey, Multiculturalism, Grandparents or grandchildren, Peru or Peruvians, Honor, Wyoming, Odors
- Locales: Peru, Wyoming, New Jersey
In the epigraph to American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood, the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda is quoted as saying that he has “half my soul at sea and half my soul on land.” The passage continues, “With these two halves of soul, I see the world.” These lines not only state the subject of Marie Arana’s memoir but also suggest her purpose in writing the book. American Chica is about divisions and connections, both external and internal. It is also about the author’s pilgrimage into the past, undertaken when, as a middle-aged adult, she realized that she must come...
[The entire page is 1851 words long]
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