Sharon Rybak Portugal

The Fault at the Center Sharon Rybak Portugal

The Fault at the Center is a candid, lyrical coming-of-age novel that tells the story of Sandy Fischer, an American girl growing up in the beautiful yet violence-ridden Guatemala of the 1960s and 70s. Sandy, a resilient and very observant girl, must face the many dilemmas emerging from the disintegration of her Jewish-Catholic home. Suddenly abandoned by their father and left to fend for themselves, the four Fischer girls and their mother no longer have a safe and clear place in their adopted homeland. While still perceived as expatriates, as gringas, the Fischers must do their best to find their way in local society. Little by little, Sandy finds herself adapting to the prim, Catholic, seemingly safe world of señoritas. But what is the price, particularly for a girl growing into womanhood, of belonging in such a rigid and fearful world--of forcing oneself not to fully register the violence that is steadily intensifying in the country? And given a choice, will Sandy leave her adopted homeland or stay?The Fault at the Center is, at the same time, an invention and a memoir, a reflection upon the narrators own distant/near relationship with her Guatemalan past.