Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In Esmeralda Santiago’s most recent novel, Las Madres, a close-knit group of three women who, over the course of a decades-long friendship, have created their own kind of family. Their story begins in Puerto Rico in the 1970s, and takes the reader to the Bronx in 2017.
A rich and deeply felt novel about friendships that remind us of our own.
This Cafecito con… centers on Las (otras) Madres, perhaps we can call them “las comadres”, a group of fellow Puerto Rican authors with recent publications that includes Sandra Guzmán, author of Daughters of Latin America, and Elisabet Velasquez, author of When We Make It. They will explore the themes of family secrets, belonging, and the boundless love and belonging in the face of disasters both natural and man-made.
Founded in 1973 by a coalition of students, faculty, and activists, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College (CENTRO) is the largest university-based research institute, library, and archive dedicated to the Puerto Rican experience in the United States. Learn more at centropr.hunter.cuny.edu
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Support our work by donating today at community.hunter.cuny.edu/supportcentro
In Esmeralda Santiago’s most recent novel, Las Madres, a close-knit group of three women who, over the course of a decades-long friendship, have created their own kind of family. Their story begins in Puerto Rico in the 1970s, and takes the reader to the Bronx in 2017.
A rich and deeply felt novel about friendships that remind us of our own.
This Cafecito con… centers on Las (otras) Madres, perhaps we can call them “las comadres”, a group of fellow Puerto Rican authors with recent publications that includes Sandra Guzmán, author of Daughters of Latin America, and Elisabet Velasquez, author of When We Make It. They will explore the themes of family secrets, belonging, and the boundless love and belonging in the face of disasters both natural and man-made.
Founded in 1973 by a coalition of students, faculty, and activists, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College (CENTRO) is the largest university-based research institute, library, and archive dedicated to the Puerto Rican experience in the United States. Learn more at centropr.hunter.cuny.edu
Follow us on social media!
Instagram: instagram.com/centropr
Facebook: facebook.com/centropr
Twitter: x.com/centropr
Threads: threads.net/@centropr
TikTok: tiktok.com/@centropr
Support our work by donating today at community.hunter.cuny.edu/supportcentro
