Chiquita Goes to Harvard
The Turkish Lover by Esmeralda Santiago ($24.95 DaCapo Press, 341 pp.)
This much-awaited follow-up to When I Was Puerto Rican and Almost a Woman is a riveting memoir of a young woman’s first serious relationship. Santiago, at age 21, meets an older man and leaves home to be with him. In spite of the fact that the man is older, charming and experienced, she soon learns that he is also dominating, lying, psychologically abusive and has no visible means of support. He calls her "Chiquita."

After a financial setback he takes her back to New York and dumps her at her parents’ home. After he leaves the country Esmeralda flourishes, finds a job she loves and her own place to live. Unfortunately, she continues to correspond with him. The lover calls and writes constantly with fervent but vague promises of reuniting with her. Instead of running for the hills (as every reader would advise), Esmeralda is enthralled, though not yet immobilized by her attraction for this man.

Esmeralda is working at a prestigious and fulfilling job at the Museum of Modern Art when she hears from the him again, telling her that he is enrolled at the University of Texas and when will she join him. She is living in Lubbock, Texas in a matter of weeks. His life becomes hers as she finds a job – and hands over her salary to him, researches and writes his papers for him, and learns to be quiet, submissive and not ask too many questions. When he completes his Master’s – for which she did all the work, something happens. Esmeralda’s self-esteem and self-worth begin to flourish. She has been taking a few courses, has done most of the work for her lover’s degrees, and begins to believe that she can accomplish more, and that she deserves better.

During a vacation in Massachusetts the couple drive through Cambridge and the Harvard campus. Esmeralda has an epiphany. She belongs here. She returns to Lubbock unsure of how she will make the desire a reality. With the support of her co-workers she completes the application and applies for scholarships and is accepted. To his credit, the lover is supportive. They pack up their Lubbock life and head north. He is to start a doctoral program in upstate New York and she moves to Cambridge to start life at Harvard. Santiago's years at Harvard are a time of self-discovery and self-determination, compellingly told.

This is an extraordinary testament to the strength and resilience of the human spirit – and the strength of Ms. Santiago.