AS TIME GOES BY © - Tapa blanda

Two Peruvian immigrants, twenty-four-year old Etienne and nineteen-year-old Mimi, meet and fall in love in San Francisco, California. They marry and soon await the birth of their first child.

The 1950s are a time of prosperity in the United States-when young couples, unlike their parents, can dream of getting a piece of the American Dream, including their own homes and cars. Mimi and Etienne, with their three children, dare to embrace this dream-but with painful consequences.

As their romantic story unfolds-filled with erotic connotations, surprises, and traumas-Mimi and Etienne try to fit in, learn, and cope in their foreign environment. They also learn how to survive troubles of the body and soul, the passions of the heart, love and betrayal in their marriage, and the pain of doubts and disappointments.

As Time Goes By © accurately portrays the sights and sounds of the streets of San Francisco and the suburbs provide them with a stage. Mimi and Etienne become much more than characters as they weep with the fog, smile with the sunshine, and flavor their lives with the salty spray of the ocean.

Camincha is from Miraflores, Lima, Perú. She earned an MA in Spanish literature from San Francisco State University. Her poems, short stories, and literary translations have been published in both English and Spanish in online magazines and literature.