When this novel was first published, Dominican readers were stunned by its dark, poetic power. At last, someone had given voice to the profound sense of loss of national and personal identity felt by young Dominicans in the wake of an onslaught on U.S. culture. The two young women narrators of the novel reflect on events, but from very different perspectives. One views their experiences in the context of their external circumstances while the other tells a more personal story of how the experiences felt to her from the inside. As the women move into adulthood, they move ever closer to the virtual reality created by modern technology: facsimiles rather than originals and people who do not know who they are.