Peel My Love Like an Onion: A Novel [Paperback]

The seductive world of flamenco forms the backdrop for a classic tale of independence found, lost, and reclaimed. Like Bizet's legendary gypsy, Carmen "La Coja" (The Cripple) Santos is hilarious, passionate, triumphant, and mesmerizing.  A renowned flamenco dancer in Chicago despite the legacy of childhood polio, Carmen has long enjoyed an affair with Agustín, the married director of her troupe--a romance that's now growing stale. When she begins a new, passionate liaison with Manolo, Agustín's grandson and a dancer of natural genius, an angry rivalry is sparked. Carmen finally makes her way back to happiness in this funny, fiery story that's equal parts soap opera, tragicomedy, and rhapsody."A fiery treatise on losing control in love.... Unforgettable."--Los Angeles Times

"If you have read Ana Castillo's work before, you will not be disappointed--. If you have not read Castillo before--where have you been?"--Houston Chronicle

"ReadingPeel My Love Like an Onionreminds us of our own small but glorious victories. Ana Castillo has written her best novel to date."--Chicago Tribune

"The best of Ana Castillo: sassy, satiric, and stunningly lyrical."--Julia AlvarezAna Castillo is the author of the novelsThe Mixquiahuala Letters,Sapogonia, andSo Far From God; the story collectionLoverboys; the critical studyMassacre of the Dreamers; and several volumes of poetry. She has received an American Book Award, a Carl Sandburg Prize, and a Southwestern Booksellers Award for her work. She lives in Chicago.Uno: I remember him dark.

I remember him dark. Or sometimes I remember it darkly. Yes, he was dark. He still is except that it is not easy to think of him as still existing, and everywhere my gaze turns he isn't there. What's the expression? Water, water everywhere . . . I was full--a vessel, a huge pre-Columbian pot, a clÓ*