Amaris Castillo's sharply observed debut, Bodega Stories, captures the daily details of life at Orlando Latin Market, the bodega owned and operated by Castillo's parents in St. Petersburg, Fla. Castillo shares her parents' history as Dominican immigrants, bodegueros (bodega operators), and small-business owners, while providing colorful portraits of staff members and regulars at the market.
Throughout Castillo's narrative, she places Orlando Latin Market in its context as a typical Latino-owned bodega but also underscores its particularity. The store's bulletin board serves as an ever-changing barometer of the neighborhood: what people need, what they want, what they are constantly looking for. The other reliable barometer of the store's mood is its customers. Castillo profiles many bodega regulars with compassion and a keen eye. Each customer finds what they need, while they also form strong relationships with one another and the staff.
Castillo, who logged plenty of hours behind the bodega counter as a young woman, writes with warmth and candor about the grueling work required of bodegueros and their employees. She celebrates her parents, recounting their history as immigrants to New York City and their quiet dedication to their store and community. Castillo also profiles her grandmother, Abuela Rosa Julia, who ran a "bodeguita chiquita" in her home in Santo Domingo. Castillo touches on the broader history of Latin American immigrants opening bodegas and other small businesses in the U.S., but this is mostly her family's story, and she tells it with sensitivity and style.
Brimming with sensory details and lively character sketches, Bodega Stories is a loving portrait of a family business and the community it both supports and creates. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams