Norma García Pettit

by Norma I García Pettit

                 Before beginning to write Luisa, Randy and I took a trip to Juan Gonzalez, Adjuntas, the barrio in which Luisa Torres and her family lived. The goal was to get as close to where my great-grandmother had lived as a young girl so as to get a feel for the environment in which she grew up. 

                The Airbnb lodging that we chose, Casa Jardín, was hosted by Gerri, who graciously permitted the use of the pictures below.  It is nestled in a mountainside surrounded by lush vegetation and majestic views. The property has hiking trails, hammocks, outdoor seating, and other features that make it the perfect place for a relaxing stay. The morning mist over the mountains is magical, and the coolness of the evenings and early mornings was exactly as I would later describe it within the pages of Luisa.                

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by Norma I García Pettit

One of my goals in writing Luisa was to enlighten readers about the uniqueness of Puerto Rican culture. One aspect of a culture is the language that is spoken. Idioms are an important element of any language and can reflect ways of thinking and behaving within a certain culture.    When I was teaching English learners, I always included idioms in the curriculum because just knowing the literal meaning of words was not going to help the students achieve English language fluency. The children needed to know that “elbow grease” was not something that had to be washed off with soap and water, and “break a leg” was not wishing bodily harm to an actor.

                You will find Puerto Rican idioms sprinkled throughout Luisa. One of the first ones that you will encounter is, “De una boda sale otra.” This means, “Out of one wedding comes another.” Certainly, many people today can say that they met their mate at a wedding, but back in the late nineteenth century this was even more commonplace, especially in the rural mountainous regions of Puerto Rico. Consider that with their lack of mobility and modern means of communication, their social interaction was limited to church and local gatherings for baptisms, weddings and funerals.

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by Norma I García Pettit

I have been asked why I chose Luisa Torres Torres from my family tree as the protagonist for my novel.  After all, I never met her and do not even have a picture of her. My mother barely knew her own grandmother. Mom moved from Adjuntas to Ponce with her parents and brother when she was just a child. I don’t know how often she returned to Adjuntas for a visit, but considering the economy, the roads and the available transportation in the 1920s, it was probably rarely. She told me that she remembered “meeting” her grandmother once and that Luisa was brown-haired and pretty. She died in 1927, when Mom was sixteen years old.

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