Yolanda Garcia

Yolanda Garcia, nicknamed "Yo" is the titular/main character of the novel, whom all of the other characters discuss throughout the various chapters. The author presents the perspectives of Yo's family members, including her sister Fifi, her mother Laura, and her father Carlos, along with her friends and other people she has met, or even briefly interacted with. Thus the reader must piece together the events of Yo's life and the characteristics of her personality through secondhand accounts.

Essentially, Yo moved from the Dominican Republic to the United States when she was a young girl. (The Garcias lived in New York City in the Bronx.) She attended boarding school and then a small East Coast liberal arts college called Commodore. After college, Yo wandered restlessly for several years, periodically returning to the D.R., applying to graduate school and then deciding not to attend, teaching creative writing...