a guest post by Margarita Barresi
When I set out to write historical fiction based in Puerto Rico, I wanted to tell a great story, but I also wanted to educate. I was tired of answering questions like, “How did you get your green card” or “When did you come to this country?” A Morning Consult poll taken right after Hurricane María devastated Puerto Rico in 2017 found that only 54% of Americans knew Puerto Ricans were U.S. citizens. Not surprising, considering U.S. schools teach very little about the island. We cannot know what we aren’t taught, right?
What I did not expect when I started conducting research for A Delicate Marriage, is that I’d also get an education. Let me share a bit of my homeland’s history with you.
Columbus landed on the island during his second voyage to the New World. It was populated by the Taíno Indians, who called their land Borikén. The Spanish renamed it Puerto Rico, meaning rich port, and ruled it for 400 years. They decimated the Taíno population and shipped in African slaves to work the sugarcane, coffee, and tobacco fields. Puerto Ricans today are a mix of Taíno, African, and European blood, and come in shades from light-skinned to ebony.
By the late 1800s, Puerto Rico was one of the few remaining Spanish colonies in the Americas, and Puerto Ricans wanted out. Finally, Spain agreed to give the island autonomy, effective February 10, 1898. Puerto Ricans rejoiced. They designed a flag, organized an insular government, and even printed currency. But their joy was short-lived. Spain lost the Spanish American War and ceded Puerto Rico to the U.S. just months before autonomy was to take effect. Puerto Rico was once again a colony.
Puerto Ricans in the early 1900s rightly felt they’d been robbed of autonomy and a robust independence movement gathered steam. In response, the U.S. granted citizenship to all Puerto Ricans in 1917 with the Jones Act, just in time for 20,000 Puerto Ricans to fight in WWI. U.S. conglomerates focused on growing sugar cane, turning the island into a one-crop economy and creating a crisis of unemployment. Some of the displaced built slums in the cities and others began a mass migration to the United States, looking for a better opportunities.
The island became divided between those who wished to work with the U.S. to improve conditions on the island and those who wanted independence. Much of the tension in A Delicate Marriage comes from these conflicting factions. During the 1940s, the so-called Gag Law prohibited Puerto Ricans from publicly supporting independence in any way, including flying the Puerto Rican flag. This is largely why Puerto Ricans today put their flag on everything, from dominoes to cars!
Slowly, the U.S. allowed Puerto Rico to have more autonomy and by the 1950s, islanders could elect their own governor. However, to this day, Puerto Ricans living on the island cannot vote for President and do not have a voting representative in Congress. As a trade-off, islanders do not pay Federal taxes. Puerto Ricans living on the mainland, however, have all the privileges and taxations of citizenship.
During the 1900s, the Puerto Rican government worked hard to industrialize the island to create jobs, attracting industry through attractive tax incentives. The efforts worked, but when the tax incentives ran out, the companies left without a look backwards. To quote a passage from the epilogue in my novel, “The government’s brilliant idea, instead of adjusting the budget, had been to issue bonds. They borrowed money from Wall Street, and when they couldn’t pay it back, they borrowed more. María hit an island with a debt of $74 million and an infrastructure in ruins.”
In a 2020 referendum, a slight majority of Puerto Ricans (52%) voted for statehood. The status, however, depends entirely on Congress, where several statehood bills have been introduced and died. In the meantime, at 530 years, Puerto Rico remains the world’s oldest colony.
From glittering ballrooms to verdant mountains to poverty-stricken slums, A Delicate Marriage takes the reader on a vivid tour of Puerto Rico forty years after becoming a U.S. colony, a time of great change and political turmoil on the island.
Isabela, a wealthy woman, sacrifices her artistic aspirations to marry Marco, a penniless man dedicated to improving conditions on the island. As the island’s insular government enacts pro-U.S. policies, Marco builds a real estate empire while struggling to maintain his populist principles. Meanwhile, Isabela feels unfulfilled in her traditional role as a wife and mother and becomes disillusioned with Marco’s shifting moral compass. She begins to identify with anti-U.S. factions, leading a dangerous double life that puts her family in peril.
As political violence threatens their paradise, Isabela and Marco question whether their marriage, like the island’s relationship with the U.S., should continue. Margarita Barresi’s debut novel celebrates Puerto Rican culture while delving into themes of class, oppression, and the effects of colonialism through the lens of a marriage.
Advance Praise for A Delicate Marriage
“Margarita Barresi’s A Delicate Marriage is an electrifying debut … smart, heartfelt and timely… a trenchant portrait of an island and a marriage pushed to the breaking point.”— Junot Diaz, author of This is When You Lose Her
“Immersive and interesting, empathetic, and expansive, Barresi skillfully interweaves a love story with the history of Puerto Rico politics. An impressive debut!” — Susie Orman Schnall, author of We Came Here to Shine
“Barresi is a naturally gifted storyteller with a talent for narrative structure…What emerges is a fully three-dimensional portrait of a couple trying to find a way forward in a time of political and social upheaval…An absorbing and deeply nuanced romance.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Barresi expertly weaves captivating details of Puerto Rican history into this gripping love story.” — Independent Book Review
“A Delicate Marriage, with its blend of glamour, charm, and a nostalgic nod to a bygone era, promises to uplift readers’ spirits on even the dreariest of days, inviting them to revisit the tempestuous yet enchanting landscape of Puerto Rico.” — Literary Titan
About the Author
Raised in Puerto Rico by her grandparents, Margarita Barresi grew up hearing stories about the “good old days”—the genesis for this, her first novel. She studied public relations at Boston University, and after
a successful career in marketing communications, now devotes her time to writing. Her essays have been published in several literary magazines and compilations. Margarita lives in the suburbs north of Boston with her husband and two Puerto Rican cats, Luna and Rico.Learn more at www.margaritabarresi.com.
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