Of Women and Salt is Gabriela Garcia’s love letter to immigrant women and their children. Beginning with the story of Maria Isabel in 19th century Cuba and jumping forward then backward in time between her female descendants, Garcia does a remarkable job of tying together the trauma, love, and hope these women carry with them.

Maria Isabel is the only woman in a cigar factory in Camagüey, Cuba. She keeps her head down, working hard for less than half the pay of all the men who surround her. She brings as little attention to herself as possible so as not to catch the attention of the overseer who disapproves of her presence. But she eventually catches the attention of a fellow factory worker, Antonio, for whom she reluctantly falls. At the factory, books are read aloud as the workers roll cigars, and Maria enjoys the stories and even dares to imagine what it would be like for someone like her to write their own story. So, as Antonio courts her, he also reads to her and eventually begins teaching her to read. It’s an innocent and pure courtship, but one surrounded by fear: an impending revolution rumbles in the distance as newspapers warn of Spanish soldiers. It’s a love that leads to the birth of a child but a devastating loss as well.

Then Garcia jumps forward in time to Maria Isabel’s modern descendant, Jeanette, with whom readers spend the most time. Her story starts when she is a teenager living in Miami and yearning for excitement. Or, at least, what she thinks might be exciting. She doesn’t want to be boring; she wants to live like the hard girls at school who are down for anything. So she puts herself in a dangerous situation with a stranger twice her age, who holds her down, shoulders digging into the sand; she sees a dead body has washed ashore.

The visuals Garcia designs with her writing are gripping. When you think the worst is about to happen to Jeanette, you see the worst has already happened to another woman.

Jeanette’s mother, Carmen, struggles with her daughter’s addiction. Carmen fled Cuba as soon as she could after witnessing a violent act. Carmen never shares this with anyone and refuses to speak with her mother, Dolores, who stayed home in Camagüey with her other daughter Elena. Carmen’s life in the United States is pristine until Jeanette begins to lose control of herself. Secrets lie between mother and daughter that erupt the day of her father’s funeral. Finally, Jeanette reveals the truth to a blindsided Carmen who can’t manage the right words.

So many moments in our lives depend on the right words that lead to choices made. And life itself is a series of choices. These choices are not always the easiest ones to make, and Garcia pulls no punches when bearing the truth on hard decisions.

Choices don’t come easily for any of the women in the book. Life places obstacles and reminders of trauma along the way, and the women must decide how to proceed. The vignettes Garcia shares from every woman’s life are profound, making this a fast and intense read.