Xochitl Gonzalez: Olga Dies Dreaming

Xochitl Gonzalez talks to Carol Fitzgerald about her debut novel, Olga Dies Dreaming, which is a Bookreporter Bets On selection. In the novel, Olga is a wedding planner for New York socialite types and deftly handles all of their quirks and high-end dreams. Her brother is a politician in Brooklyn, who strives to represent the Puerto Rican community. While they both appear to be in control of their own lives, these appearances are deceiving. Both are haunted by their absent mother, who was a revolutionary in Puerto Rico. In the wake of Hurricane Maria, their lives collide with their mother again. Xochitl talks about how her life and writing have been influenced by growing up in Brooklyn. She remembers the area before it was the more gentrified place it is now, and those memories infuse her writing. They discuss her writing of the book, which started at the Iowa Writers Workshop and was once conceived as a memoir. She also wrote the Hulu pilot script for Olga Dies Dreaming and shares her writing process for that, as well as what it was like being on set with the cast and crew. Books Discussed in This Episode: Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/olga-dies-dreaming https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bookreporter-talks-to/id1478026194 More Bookreporter Talks To: Everything We Didn't Say: https://youtu.be/UyjRqnyTrLc The Attic on Queen Street: https://youtu.be/a_S6PfaSXtE The Starless Crown: https://youtu.be/3sdpFPTOU3M Check out our Bookaccino Book Club live events! William Kent Krueger: https://youtu.be/dX-mHWLmv5k Jim DeFede: https://youtu.be/y2im_W_wGsw Sign up for the weekly Bookreporter.com newsletter here: http://tbrnetwork.com/newsletters/bookreporter-weekly-newsletter-subscribe FOLLOW US Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bookreporter Website: https://www.bookreporter.com Photography Credit: Greg Fitzgerald