The Memories of Ana Calderon - Tapa dura

Ana's idyllic childhood, romping among the dunes in a Mexican fishing village, is shattered when her mother dies in childbirth, and Ana must assume the duties of caring for the younger ones of the family. Not only must she assume adult responsibility, but she must challenge her community's consensus about the role she has inherited as a female.
In order to earn enough for his family to survive, Ana's father takes the children and an adopted son to the United States. Here begins Ana's long torturous odyssey towards self-fulfillment. On the way, she must face her father's ever-increasing wrath, her sisters' envy and society's rigidity as she becomes more independent.
But what is in store for her is more pain than her father alone can inflict: a treacherous love affair that leaves her with child, banishment from the sisters she has raised, a prison term, grueling agricultural work. Ana overcomes all but fate itself in this novel of surprising plot twists and unforgiving destiny.

Graciela Limon teaches Spanish American Literature at Loyola Marymount University.