Everyone Knows You Go Home

By: Natalia Sylvester

Narrated by: Frankie Corzo

Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

From the acclaimed author of Chasing the Sun comes a new novel about immigration and the depths to which one Mexican American family will go for forgiveness and redemption.

The first time Isabel meets her father-in-law, Omar, he’s already dead - an apparition appearing uninvited on her wedding day. Her husband, Martin, still unforgiving for having been abandoned by his father years ago, confesses that he never knew the old man had died. So Omar asks Isabel for the impossible: persuade Omar’s family - especially his wife, Elda - to let him redeem himself.

Isabel and Martin settle into married life in a Texas border town, and Omar returns each year on the celebratory Day of the Dead. Every year Isabel listens, but to the aggrieved Martin and Elda, Omar’s spirit remains invisible. Through his visits, Isabel gains insight into not just the truth about his disappearance and her husband’s childhood but also the ways grief can eat away at love. When Martin’s teenage nephew crosses the Mexican border and takes refuge in Isabel and Martin’s home, questions about past and future homes, borders, and belonging arise that may finally lead to forgiveness - and alter all their lives forever.

©2018 Natalia Sylvester (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

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The cover resembles the desert thousands of people walk day and night to get a better life. A multi-color desert depicting all the people whose histories got interlaced through the years. This story moved me deeply not only for the raw experience of crossing the border but also for all of those who the desert was the last sun they saw rising or falling.

Chicano literature is so rich and so powerful. Something I love deeply about this novels is the human experience that gave so much weight to the story. The human experience that people can relate personally and see as part of society. People from the States can use this title to understand a little bit more why people cross the border, why people take the lowest jobs possible, and how their fear to lose all they have for being considered aliens and illegals.

I enjoyed this and felt good at the end

I had googled “stories that make you happy to be alive.” And after I was done listening to this book, I was happy. I enjoyed the characters, especially Elda, and the arc of the story, following the different experiences of the family members. Some things that didn’t resonate with me were not the fault of the story, such as the spiritual aspects. There were some beautiful human truths, and turns of phrase like when Isa’s father told her “that was not you, that was youth”. Some of the writing and character development fell a little flat, though. Sometimes I wanted more insight, but it wasn’t available. And I didn’t think Isabel needed to point out that she was Martin’s wife at so many key times. Just on a human level, as people in a relationship, she deserved what she was asking for.

I thought the narrator did a good job. I liked her reading speed – – I see some people here complained. She has a nice voice. It was curious though to me that sometimes when a word had a “t” at its center, she would pronounce it— like in the word “center.” But for one of the main characters, Martin, she swallowed the “t”, making him “Mar-inn.” This was unfortunate because I thought her pronunciation overall was really good.

Good - a little confusing

The changing back & forth from on time period to another took some getting used to but if you stick with it, it’s a good story.

Unknown

At first I thought the narrator was just taking long breaks between sentences but then I realized its clipped so bad that I’m missing half of the sentence! I couldnt listen to it which is sad because the book sounds really interesting.

Good story; slow performance

I had to listen to this book on 1.5x speed. Frankie Corzo narrated SO slow I kept thinking my app had paused itself. The enormous gaps between sentences was driving me nuts.

The story is a refreshing story that invites the reader into the life of immigrants in a very educational way. Outstanding!!

Good story, listened 1.5 speed

Good story. Thought provoking and made me want to know more. The reading is slow. Speed it up and you’ll enjoy it.