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On the last day of 1964, fifteen-year-old Ana Cancion marries Juan Ruiz, a man twice her age, in the Dominican countryside. The following day she becomes Ana Ruiz, a wife confined to a one-bedroom in Washington Heights. Juan is unfaithful, abusive, and controlling, he even forbids her from learning English. After a failed escape, Ana learns she is pregnant. Both her mother and husband compare her pregnancy to winning the lottery, her child will have American citizenship. Juan returns briefly to the Dominican Republic when the civil war begins, leaving Cesar, his brother, to care for Ana. During that respite from confinement she experiences true love, which awakens her will to fight for independence from her abuser and for the right to stay in her adopted homeland. A timeless portrait of womanhood and citizenship, which rings true in this era of forced migration.
On the last day of 1964, fifteen-year-old Ana Cancion marries Juan Ruiz, a man twice her age, in the Dominican countryside. The following day she becomes Ana Ruiz, a wife confined to a one-bedroom in Washington Heights. Juan is unfaithful, abusive, and controlling, he even forbids her from learning English. After a failed escape, Ana learns she is pregnant. Both her mother and husband compare her pregnancy to winning the lottery, her child will have American citizenship. Juan returns briefly to the Dominican Republic when the civil war begins, leaving Cesar, his brother, to care for Ana. During that respite from confinement she experiences true love, which awakens her will to fight for independence from her abuser and for the right to stay in her adopted homeland. A timeless portrait of womanhood and citizenship, which rings true in this era of forced migration.