Salsa in the Suburbs

(Paperback)

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Salsa in the Suburbs is a story about a Latin-American family in Australia. The family has migrated to Western Sydney from Uruguay in the 1970s to escape a repressive military dictatorship. Decades later, Juan, is in his early seventies and a widower. He misses his wife and does not know how to be alone and has become dependent on his daughters, particularly Lola, who lives nearby.

Lola has her own battles living with an anxiety disorder and in her relationship with her Uruguayan musician husband, who connects her with the culture she lost when she migrated as a child. Her younger sister, Betty, is living an alternative lifestyle in Mullumbimby, unlike Lola, who clings to her Uruguayan culture, Betty has removed herself from her cultural roots as she finds it oppressive and stifling.

A third daughter, Malena is living in Italy with her husband. Fed up with Juan's dependence, particularly on Lola, Betty decides to place a personal ad, in a Spanish paper, on his behalf without asking him, hoping that a new partner, may help him, move beyond his grief and dependency. However, he finds new love walking the dog, a widowed Aboriginal lady called Frances. Their blossoming relationship becomes a trigger for Juan, Lola and Betty recalibrate how they measure their belonging across cultures.

'The work presents a stunning and original overview of Latinx communities in both America and Australia, exploring how the family escape the civic-military dictatorship in the 1970s and find a home among the South American community of Western Sydney. Now, decades later, each member of the family reckons with the tension between the rich meaning they draw from their heritage and the human need for new experiences. Salsa in the Suburbs is poignant in its intersectional dialogue, and inspiring in its well-developed characters that carry humour, trauma and Uruguayan history with immense strength.' Maggie Ball, Fresh Ink judge and publisher of The Compulsive Reader

Author Bio

Alejandra Martinez is an Australian-Uruguayan writer based in the Blue Mountains of NSW. She migrated to Australia at the age of seven with her family as a military dictatorship was about to take over the country. Her stories have been published in a range of anthologies and magazines, including Best Australian Stories (Black Inc), Girls Talk and Puentes Review. She has also written short plays, one which was performed at the Riverside Theatre in Parramatta. An extract from Salsa in the Suburbs was the winner of the 2022 Newcastle Writers Festival Fresh Ink Emerging Writer Prize, while it was a work in progress.