Conquistadora (2011) by Esmeralda Santiago

I mostly read this book during my vacation (more about that later). I had heard Santiago interviewed on NPR, and thought the historical, family saga sounded interesting. Santiago grew up in Puerto Rico, and moved with her family to New York City when she was 13. Her two memoirs, Almost a Woman, and When I was Puerto Rican, tell about her childhood in Puerto Rico and her adolescence in New York.
The saga begins with Ana Larragoity Cubillas, a 16-year-old girl of buen familia (good family - middle class). She has been raised in Spain to look beautiful, marry and have children. Instead she marries a young man whose father has inherited properties in Puerto Rico, and determines to go there and run the hacienda (plantation). Starting up a derelict sugar plantation in the 1840's is a daunting task - and Ana is up for the challenge.
The story (plot) is compelling - you want to keep reading to see what becomes of Ana, her husband, her children, and their friends. What new disaster is coming? Hurricane, fire, crop failure, slave insurrection and cholera are all common dangers. The exoctic setting is well done, except that you occassionally feel you are reading from the "Colonial History of Puerto Rico."