Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

When you start reading Olga Dies Dreaming, you might think it is the Puerto Rican version of Crazy Rich Asians – but don’t be fooled. While the expectations and manners of the rich are dissected in similar detail, class politics is front and centre. Olga is a wedding planner in New York and her brother Prieto is a congressman. Abandoned by their mother – a freedom fighter – and neglected by a drug-addicted father, the impact of their childhood, family secrets, corruption and community pressures are revealed with the novel switching backwards and forwards in time. As a hurricane hits Puerto Rico, Olga and her brother need to survive the storms in their own lives.