Puerto Rican Author Marisel Vera on the Meaning of Home After a Hurricane
‘The Taste of Sugar’ showcases love after the U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico in 1898
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Anyone who lives in Puerto Rico can tell you that life is divided into two chapters: life before Hurricane María and after. Since Hurricane María made landfall in September 2017, there has been what the media calls an “exodus” of Boricuas searching for a better life. But author Marisel Vera, the daughter of Puerto Rican parents, can tell you about entire generations of Puerto Ricans who have migrated stateside since Hurricane San Ciriaco devastated the island in 1899.
Vera’s latest novel, The Taste of Sugar, follows the story of Puerto Rican newlyweds after the United States invasion of Puerto Rico in 1898. They’re lured to Hawaii’s sugar plantations under the guise of a more prosperous life. There, they face indignities similar to those they encountered back home before and after Hurricane San Ciriaco. Besides the compelling plot, the book serves as a reminder that Puerto Rico is the oldest colony in the world, and its corrupt government and outdated colonial mechanisms have hindered its progress.
ZORA recently caught up with Vera to discuss diversity in publishing, her hopes for people who read her novel, and why she thinks Latinx Heritage Month is a positive thing.
ZORA: The Taste of Sugar focuses on home and displacement. What drew you to these themes?
Marisel Vera: I don’t really think about themes. I think about what I want to say and who I want to tell my story. My father, a factory worker in Chicago, always wanted to go back to Puerto Rico and build a house in the mountains where he grew up and could not realize his dream. I’ve always understood how sad you feel when you yearn for something. In the ’50s, there wasn’t any work, and people were so hungry during the time of my novel and now. History repeats itself.
