The Things We Didn't Know by Elba Iris Perez

 

When Andrea Rodriguez and her brother Pablo are children, their parents split up and their mother sneaks them away back to Puerto Rico, where both the parents came from.  But the mother isn't interested in being a mother.  She farms the children off on various relatives for months.  Some are so poor that the children go hungry and are dressed in rags, unwashed for weeks.  Finally, their father discovers where they are and comes to rescue them.

He takes them back to the small New England town where the only industry is the factory where he works.  Much of their father's family has come there also and the children are surrounded by family. Some are good to Andrea while others are cruel.  Regardless, she is bound by the strict rules for girls in their culture while Pablo is free to roam and make friends.  

The book follows the children as they grow, as their small town changes and their father's life does as well as he remarries and as the rest of his family moves away.  Eventually the children are grown.  Andrea goes to college and marries while Pablo is lost to the family as he ran away years ago.  

Elba Iris Perez is a historian from Puerto Rico so she is well acquainted with the Puerto Rican culture she shares.  The reader will emphasize with Andrea and wish her life was easier while wondering while Pablo is given so many more privileges.  The secret of his life that is eventually revealed explains much about the family.  The key importance of family is made plain in the book and in this culture family is all.  This book is recommended for readers of novels from other cultures.