Dolores' Last Will and Testament

Authors

Victoria Calderin, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Major/Program

Creative Writing

First Advisor's Name

Lester Standiford

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Lynne Barrett

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Third Advisor's Name

Maneck Daruwala

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Keywords

Cuba, Dolores, Fiction, Will, Testament

Date of Defense

3-16-2022

Abstract

This thesis aims to analyze the intersectionality of points of view among generations of Cuban immigrants in Miami through the lens of fiction. In it, Carmen Velez, a Cuban American Construction Manager, faces a divorce and financial ruin which force her to return to the life she fled from in Miami. After her mother, Dolores, dies, Carmen must execute her estate. Following a dangerous whirlwind trip to Cuba, meeting her estranged father, and encountering the shadows of her mother’s former life as a revolutionary, Carmen comes to more deeply understand her family, and by extension, herself. Despite her loses, she gains a new life and the return of her father. The novel is influenced by Jenine Capo Crucete’s How to Leave Hialeah and Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. Like its models, the story focuses on its main character’s struggle with loyalty to family versus loyalty to oneself.

Identifier

FIDC010528

Recommended Citation

Calderin, Victoria, "Dolores' Last Will and Testament" (2022). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 4995.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/4995