A debut novel chronicling the lives of three generations of remarkable Dominican women ranges from the early 1900s to the present day as it follows Graciela, who flees the strictures of her poverty-stricken rural life; her daughter Mercedes, who builds a new life in New York City; and Leila, a restless young woman coming of age in the high-spirited 1990s. Reprint. 12,500 first printing.