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Sign up todayOlga Dies Dreaming
A Novel
Length
11 hours 41 minutes
Language
English
Narrators
Almarie Guerra, Armando Riesco & Inés del Castillo
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreBookseller recommendation
“Olga’s mother abandoned her family to fight for Puerto Rico’s liberation, and since then both Olga and her brother Prieto have tried to fill the void she left. Olga seeks attention and approval in meaningless relationships, while Prieto seeks approval and acclaim as a politician. Both finally face truths about their revolutionary mother and themselves and gain their own liberation from the years of heartbreak. This is a story focused on individuals and family and trauma, but it also highlights the far-reaching effects of colonialism.”
— Nancy • Raven Book Store
Bookseller recommendation
“Olga Dies Dreaming is a ridiculously fun and compelling read, moving from hilarity to heartbreak and everything in between. I adored Olga and her brother Prieto and loved their story of family, politics, ambition, and what it means to be American in the 21st century. The full-cast audiobook was a complete delight, but I loved it so much I'll still buy a hard copy to keep on my shelf! ”
— Kate • Bookmarks
Bookseller recommendation
“Olga and her brother Pedro 'Prieto' Acevedo had a rough start—their activist mother left them to lead a militant group in Puerto Rico; their father died young from AIDS—but they've both found success, Olga as a high-end wedding planner and Prieto as a congressman. Olga Dies Dreaming follows the pair (and some of their loved ones) as they navigate their careers, dreams, responsibilities, and loyalties in the rapidly gentrifying Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. It's a story about family and boundaries, and doing the painful but rewarding work of discovering one's purpose. I fell in love with Olga so quickly, and that's due in large part to Inés del Castillo's narration.”
— Arianna • P&T Knitwear
Bookseller recommendation
“What a debut! If you’re looking for a compelling, well written story about a woman at odds with her heritage, her family and trying desperately to figure out her place in the world Olga Dies Dreaming is the book for you. I couldn’t put it down-I stayed up until 2:30 in the morning because I had to know what happened to Olga!”
— Kathleen • A Great Good Place for Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Loved this one, especially on audio. The narration was excellent, and laugh out loud funny. Perfect blend of contemporary fiction, intrigue, romance, Puerto Rican culture, and the impact of Hurricane Maria. ”
— Jessica • Main Street Books Davidson
Bookseller recommendation
“Left in the care of their grandmother by their radical mother, Blanca, siblings Olga and Preito strive and struggle to make their way as adults in their native Brooklyn, their mother’s decision reverberating throughout their careers, friendships, and romantic relationships. There is a sweet romance at the center of this story that grounds the narrative, as well as gossipy family drama - including a competitive cousin and a no-nonsense auntie. It is a fast moving tale, set in the before and after of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. I giggled, sighed, cheered, cried, and barked with (sometimes cynical) laughter as I took in this sweeping story of love and revolution.”
— Erin • Water Street Bookstore
Bookseller recommendation
“Olga Dies Dreaming, by Xochitl Gonzalez, was the book that reintroduced me to audiobooks as a medium. I loved the multiple narrators bringing life to the characters. After reading that, I was hooked on audio again! ”
— Lily • Third Place Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Gonzalez puts together a book partly about activism, history, romance, the importance of community and family, the rollercoaster called life, and lastly, being a POC in America. We follow two siblings, Olga and Prieto, of the Acevedo clan in NYC trying to do the best with what they have in their respective lives while being each other shoulder to lean on. An amazing story with many compelling components formed to make a book you don't want to stop listening to. ”
— Q'Nefertahri • Undercover Books & Gifts
Bookseller recommendation
“May every activist cause & social justice movement get themselves a Xochitl Gonzalez. It is a rare gift indeed to be able to write a novel that is so incredibly rich, satisfying, and fun to read while also educating the reader about something as complicated as Puerto Rico’s history of colonial oppression. I rooted for Olga as she fought for her family and to get the life she desires, while taking breaks to google more about Puerto Rican history. ”
— Josh • Underground Books
"All three narrators are Puerto Rican–born and deliver the Spanish passages with musical grace, thereby enhancing an already fine novel." —The Washington Post
“The narrators’ accents and code-shifting create a vibrant auditory experience. In particular, Guerra’s luscious voice conveys Olga’s transformation from fighter to a compassionate woman as she overcomes dualities and finds wholeness within herself.” – BookPage
A blazing new talent debuts with the story of a status-driven wedding planner grappling with her absent mother, her glittering career amongst New York’s elite and her Puerto Rican roots in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
It’s 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro “Prieto” Acevedo are bold faced 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 powerbrokers.
Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy. Sure, Olga can orchestrate the love stories of the 1%, 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…
Twenty-seven years ago, their 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.
A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books
Xochitl Gonzalez is the New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming. Named a Best Book of 2022 by The New York Times, TIME, Kirkus, Washington Post, and NPR, Olga Dies Dreaming was the winner of the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize in Fiction and the New York City Book Award. Gonzalez is a 2021 MFA graduate from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her nonfiction work has been published in Elle Decor, Allure, Vogue, Real Simple, and The Cut. Her commentary writing for The Atlantic was recognized as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. A native Brooklynite and proud public school graduate, Gonzalez holds a BA from Brown University and lives in her hometown of Brooklyn with her dog, Hectah Lavoe.
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Reviews
Indie Next Selection for January 2022
Book of the Month Club Selection
“The audiobook is read by three Puerto Rican-born narrators Almarie Guerra, Inés del Castillo, and Armando Riesco, who showcase PR accents and code-switching dynamics to heighten the authenticity and storytelling experience of the book.”—HipLatina
"Atmospheric, intelligent, and well informed: an impressive debut." — Kirkus, starred review
"Olga Dies Dreaming is a beautiful force — completely unique in its intricacies yet universal in the characters’ desires to be loved and understood." — Associated Press
"A fantastically engaging story...Rarely does a novel, particularly a debut novel, contend so powerfully and so delightfully with such a vast web of personal, cultural, political and even international imperatives." —The Washington Post
"[An] edifying debut... Gonzalez elevates this family drama with a great deal of insight on the characters’ diaspora and politics." — Publishers Weekly
"A wonderful and thought-provoking story..." — BookRiot
"Olga Dies Dreaming intricately presents its flawed characters working through the meaning of cultural identity, family secrets, grief, and self-preservation. Their stories capture the ways in which we sometimes define ourselves by how others see us — to often painful ends." — Book of the Month
"Xochitl Gonzalez delivers a healthy dose of tough love with her buzzy debut Olga Dies Dreaming." — TIME
"In her ambitious debut novel, Gonzalez explores such weighty topics as coercion, rape, gentrification, and the colonial exploitation...Shining throughout, however, is the redeeming quality of love in all its iterations: romantic, fraternal, paternal, patriotic, and ultimately, love of self." — Booklist
"Vibrant and raw...Olga Dies Dreaming delivers a roller coaster’s worth of beautiful highs and lows. All told, it’s an experience worth savoring." — BookPage
“Hilarious… A sprawling dramedy of love, politics, blackmail and real estate featuring a Puerto Rican family in Brooklyn." — People
"The extraordinary accomplishment of Olga Dies Dreaming is in how a familiar-enough tale—a woman seeking love, happiness, and fulfillment in the big city—slowly reveals itself to be something else altogether. It’s a book about a New York that isn’t always celebrated, the one that belongs to immigrant communities; about money, class, and political power; about one vividly-imagined family and the very idea of the American Dream." — Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind
"In this sparkling debut, Gonzalez digs deep into the damaged heart of a family, ably dissecting the knottiness of conditional love, identity, loyalty, secrets and the very definition of home. That she manages to cover so much ground with wisdom, tenderness and abundant humor makes this book a complete joy, and I will think about its richly drawn, deeply human characters for a very long time." — Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, author of The Nest and Good Company
“Olga Dies Dreaming is the story of an imperfect family shattered by secrets, grief, and abandonment, and of people who rise up, refusing to be broken. Smart, witty, and driven, Gonzalez’s Olga hustles, stumbles, falls, and eventually finds her way. An unflinching examination of capitalism, corruption, gentrification, colonialism, and their effects on marginalized people, Olga Dies Dreaming is a poignant, scalding debut.” — Jaquira Díaz, author of Ordinary Girls
“Olga Dies Dreaming is as funny as it is insightful, as deft as it is original. In this impressive debut, Xochitl Gonzalez displays a gift for capturing the absurdity in the fabric of life. Wit and wisdom rarely combine in such a powerful one-two punch.” — Mat Johnson, author of Pym and Loving Day
“Olga Dies Dreaming is a love letter to Brooklyn brimming with the best music, with dreams and sorrows—the stuff of real life. At turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Gonzalez gives us a gripping novel about community, family, betrayal, and the complicated inheritance of diaspora—a wild and ambitious saga that shows once again how the personal is always deeply political. An unforgettable story about finding and defending home." — Jennine Capó Crucet, author of My Time Among The Whites
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