DIGITAL DOMAIN
Valentina Goldman's Immaculate Confusion, by Marisol Murano, is the story of a Latina trying to feel at home in a country and a life she hadn't imagined for herself. The summary says: "Since her arrival in the United States from Venezuela, Valentina Goldman isn't exactly living the American Dream. She's living the American Nightmare. Her husband, Max, has left her a widow at 35. He also left her his ashes, a step-daughter Emily whom Valentina didn't want but is now struggling to raise, plus a bi-polar ex-wife. And oh, having given up her dream job in New York to marry Max, Valentina is now unemployed in Scottsdale, Arizona, and looking for work. Told with a breathless, almost blog-like intimacy, and with her knack for divulging that which should be kept private, Valentina contrasts her story with that of her sister - Azucena - and her family whom Valentina left behind in Venezuela. While Azucena's marriage is on the rocks down in the tropics, Valentina has equally troublesome problems raising a foreign step-daughter - a whacky enterprise which leaves the otherwise confident Valentina wracked with doubts."