Bharath's Reviews > How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water

I am afraid this was a disappointment, though clearly many loved the book. It also appears that audio may have been a better option in this case, based on other reviews.

Cara Romero is the predominant character in this story. She runs aways from her husband (in the Dominican Republic), who she believes would have killed her, and settles in the US. She works in a factory for many years and raises her son, who is no longer close to her. She also has a complex relation with her sister. Out of a job in her 50s, she is looking to find ways of getting way to working, but it is tough.

I appreciated that this book portrayed Cara as a person of great resilience who weathers great many challenges in her life. There are also issues of racism, immigration and support systems the book references. The book is told entirely from Cara’s perspective (including sessions with a job counsellor) and I found her musings and responses to be pretentious. Her entries in application forms, for instance, I suppose should be viewed as a mix of her humble background and some humour but did not jell with me. I feel what could have been a story of a strong character was undermined by poor writing.