Almost a Woman

Almost a Woman is a sequel to When I Was Puerto Rican, the memoir of Esmeralda Santiago’s childhood. The story covers her life as an adolescent and young woman when she lived in Brooklyn, New York, with her mother (Mami) and 10 siblings during the 1960s. As Puerto Rican immigrants, the family suffered through periods of poverty exemplified by the author’s trips to the welfare office with Mami, where she translated her mother’s Spanish so that they could obtain benefits. Esmeralda’s good humor, zest for life and fighting spirit permeate her chronicle and moderate the impact of the hard times she describes. She studied acting at the prestigious Performing Arts Public High School and, despite feeling out of place because of her heritage, she was able to obtain acting work in a children’s theater company and had a small role in the movie Up the Down Staircase. She had to lose her Puerto Rican accent to widen her acting range but she never lost her connection to her family and her heritage. Mami prevented her from dating until she was 17, but Esmeralda details several romantic involvements, including a tumultuous affair with a Turkish filmmaker.

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