This book has very sad overtones. It is concerned with the human struggle for happiness in life, or maybe just contentment. Just about every main character, present and past, seems to be involved in some inner turmoil. Carmen is struggling with her own identity and her unhappiness in her marriage to Paul. She feels she plays a role of dutiful wife as she was brought up to be, but that the marriage really has no strong foundation and she and her husband have nothing in common. Possibly a repetition of her parents' marriage? She admits to being convinced by her husband to have an abortion. This must have been very traumatic to reconcile with her Catholic upbringing as she refers to it as "a crime". She is searching throughout the narrative for answers to her questions. What

There are no clear answers for Carmen. As she searches for answers she is also experiencing the very early stages of the grieving process. She is angry. She doesn't like at all that her mother has altered her view of her as a parent. Don't we all think that our parents never make mistakes or have questions in their own lives? If Isabel had left the marriage when she was a child, Carmen would have been forced to deal with the issue of an imperfect world with imperfect people. As she travels through some very poignant reminiscences, she admits to her own self-absorption as a child. As an adult, she reflects on now seeing her parents more clearly as individuals. I, too, have personally had this experience in seeing parents differently from the adult perspective.

Carmen appears to be wearing a mask in her own relationship that shows a repetition of her mother's life. The parallels of Carmen assuming her mother's keys, place at the table, and mediator status all indicate that the daughter is following the same pattern as the mother. Has she been trying to live up to her mother's role model? And now that she is faced with her mother's own fallabilities must she face her own as well? The dreams the mother had for her children did not materialize in the manner she had hoped for, something better and less limiting than the stifling culture of Santa Ana. Even Carmen's escape to a life in Washington has not brought about the desired lifestyle. The book implied to me that we carry our baggage with us wherever we go. The decisions we make are greatly influenced by what we have been taught are the right mores of behavior. Internal rules that we may not even be consciously aware that we have. Being an older student, I have caught myself numerous times repeating patterns that I recognize as having come from the homelife I was raised with. It can be a very disconcerting experience.

I really liked the descriptive sections. Y

Some common words found in the essay are:
ASHES IZALCO, Ana Carmen's, Frank Somehow, Virgil Virgil, Ana Carmen, Alfredo Eduardo, Santa Ana, main character, seeing parents, santa ana, human struggle,
Approximate Word count = 1311
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)