The Amado Women is the story of four very different women, linked by birth, struggling to reconnect.
Mercedes Amado has raised and watched her three daughters grow into women. Celeste, fiercely intelligent and proud, has fled her youth and family in Los Angeles to financial independence in San Jose. Sylvia has immersed herself in the world of her two young daughters, while Nataly, the baby, waits tables in an upscale restaurant by night and works on her textile art by day.
Four women struggle for their piece of the American Dream, but will it evaporate when confronted with family tragedy?
Interviews
- “This Writer’s On Fire: Désirée Zamorano“
- Jasmine Elist interviews Désirée in The Los Angeles Times.
- Désirée discusses “The Invisible Latina” for The Toast.
- Daniel Olivas interviews Désirée in the Los Angeles Review of Books.
- The Publishers Weekly interview
Reviews
“Take three wildly divergent sisters, a worrying mother, and an electrifying city. Blend in the heartache of marriage and an arsenal of secrets. Serve to all your comadres with a jalapeño twist.”
—Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Mexican Enough: My Life Between the Borderlines
“Désirée Zamorano’s novel explores a world of Latinas that belongs to her alone. Such originality predicts a notable career in the world of fiction. The author’s voice is true, and her stories feel real.”
—Mark Childress, Crazy in Alabama and Georgia Bottoms
“…these beautiful Amado women dine at chichi hotels and restaurants, carry plush designer bags, and steer new cars into suburbias. But Zamorano doesn’t leave it at that–because even an American dream-fulfilled life is still full of real life, and what alone endures is family.”
—Dagoberto Gilb, Before the End, After the Beginning: Stories
“From its shocking opening to its dream-like ending, Désirée Zamorano’s The Amado Women dishes out secrets, lies, and hurts as fast as we can gobble them up.”
—Petrea Burchard, Hometown Pasadena
“A finely rendered story of a multigenerational Latina family overcoming individual setbacks and tragedies.”
—Shelf Awareness for Readers
“With The Amado Women, she delivers a story bursting with life, awakening readers to its radiant characters, eloquent prose and deeply engaging world.”
—Anjali Enjeti, [PANK] Magazine
“…a fast-paced story with lots of family drama and strong characters who overcome bad relationships and the other adversities life hands them.”
—Library Journal
“Stunning, original, beautiful, mesmerizing…It’s a fast paced, emotionally-packed tale that will captivate readers from the start.”
—Latina Book Club
“This is spot-on writing from Zamorano, illustrating how class aspirations can erase our humanity or ability to connect with others, and demonstrating some of the pitfalls of middle-class existence.”
—Vickie Vértiz, Los Angeles Review of Books
“The Amado Women is a fast-paced novel that manages the rare feat of being both entertaining and heartfelt… A haunting, well-crafted story from a novelist at the peak of her powers.”
—Hope Wabuke, The Rumpus