Big Angel de la Cruz

Big Angel is the patriarch of the De La Cruz family. He is born in La Paz, Mexico to his parents, the strict Don Antonio, and the stern and embittered Mamá América. When he is a teenager and his parents split up, Big Angel is sent to work on his aunt and uncle’s boat. There, he kills his abusive uncle, Chente Bent, and flees to Tijuana. There, her reunites with Perla, the love of his life and his eventual wife. He becomes a computer and security systems manager in San Diego, where he buys a house. At the time of the novel, Big Angel is turning 70 and dying of bone cancer. He organizes a birthday party that acts also as a kind of funeral for himself.

While Big Angel is shown to be a unifying force within the family, he occasionally struggles...