It takes a crisis to bring back together three generations of women who've walked their own winding paths to where they now are in life. The family matriarch Rafaela has found a new lust for life in her twilight years. Her daughter Ruth is slowly loosing the grip she firmly took on her life and business as her children have grown. Then there is Daisy, the child whose accident before a hurricane. Her life is not so dissimilar to her radically different mother's or her grandmother's as she'd assume.

The style in which “Speak to Me of Home” is told in feels at this point like a subgenre all in itself. The book flops from one time frame and perspective to the next. Let me be clear in saying that it is a difficult style to tackle and I applaud those who try it. It can be make or break. For this, I lean towards it not doing many favors.

The book's summary is more forthcoming about the reader's journey than the seeming set up by the text for a family mystery. So, I tried to reorient my expectations. I think that contributed to a lingering disconnect. I would be in middle of a section and my brain would be working on how the tidbits of a secret was relevant as opposed to really digging into the emotion and themes. I can't help but wonder if after a prologue of current day not as much shuffling of timelines or structuring the book in acts would have made a difference.

When my brain wasn't trying to play detective, I was invested. The book tackles the concept of finding one's self, one's place, and how experiences can create vastly different responses to a common denominator. Not just when it comes to being from or of Puerto Rico. Nor personal identity. It extends to the roles society place on us and our relationships to friends and family. It broaches the importance of language in some unexpected ways. It also shows how a core personality trait can manifest differently from person to person. One of the most significant ideas I appreciated is the capacity of one to love. What forms of it do we feel and which are accepted and safe to express? There is so much to be said not only of romantic love but platonic and familial as well.

Not insignificant is how each character navigated the economical shifts in their lives. All see vast changes at least once. There is a matter of resilience in all of the women. But what they chased and how they defined wealth was completely different from woman to woman.

This is a story about connection with yourself, with your loved ones, and with your roots. In one case with your very physical form. If you are passionate about the way women relate to one another, about how a generation's fate is shaped by the past, you will probably fall in love with this novel.

Sadly, for me, this was decent but as a whole not spectacular. Perhaps I've read too many books along these same lines. Maybe it was the formatting. I finished the book feeling that could just be trying too much instead of trusting in its core ideas. I do give it credit for having great character development and a broad variety of viewpoints. In that regard it is phenomenal.

Thank you to partner Macmillan Audio for the free audiobook. All opinions are my own.
4.5 Stars

Beautifully read by Almarie Guerra, she brought the authenticity to the characters. Single narrator speaking for the 3 women of the book. Each character was easily discernible and Ms. Guerra made the book a joy to listen to.

At the heart of it's story, 3 generations of women all questioning their place in terms of home and identity. Strong women that are molded by their culture and time in history face racism and cultural backlash. Not white enough to be white, not brown enough to be Puerto Rican. Not American enough coming from Puerto Rico but too American living in Puerto Rico.

It takes the youngest, Daisy, currently living in Puerto Rico during a potentially catastrophic hurricane that pulls all the women together. Each one's story unfolds that will pull at your heart strings and have you cheering them on.

I remain a huge fan of Jeanine Cummins and will read whatever she puts out. I also look forward to listening to more books narrated by Almarie Guerra.

I'd say SPEAK TO ME OF HOME is a classic historical family epic saga/drama about 3 generations of women from Puerto Rico. It's a story about family roots, heritage, identity, and love.
There are three different timelines and POVs, which, in my opinion, makes the story more dynamic.
I haven't read yet this author's previous novel, so I can't compare these two books, but I will say I enjoyed Cummins' writing and prose here, and I do believe readers who like historical fiction might like this book, too.
I am not from Puerto Rico (even though I am Latin), so I cannot praise or judge how Cummins portraits these characters or the city itself, but I can say I believed in everything I read and I liked it.

I'd recommend this book to any historical fiction (Latin or not) readers out there who are into family saga and dramas.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Almarie Guerra, whom I have never heard of before, and I LOVED it! She narrates this book perfectly. I was absolutely invested in her narration. Sure, Cummins' writing also helps a lot, but Guerra's narration is stunning. I highly, HIGHLY recommend the audio format for readers who enjoy audiobooks.

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, for allowing me to listen to an advanced audio copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much for this advance listening copy. Cummins is an immensely talented author and I enjoyed her prose and descriptions of Puerto Rico. I also love this bright, eye catching cover. I think I expected this to be a more edge of your seat type of book after reading American Dirt. It has a pulse pounding start as we follow Daisy’s accident in the storm, but the bulk of the novel is more of a slower paced family drama, which don’t always appeal to me as a reader. I was a little confused with the switching timelines on audio, but I thought the narrator was excellent.