I am obsessed with Sochiel Gonzalez's debut novel Olga Dyes Dreaming,

which is to say I am obsessed with Sochiel herself, given how much of her own life story is baked into her work.

The quick plot, Olga, a wedding planner for New York's elite,

and her brother, Prieto, a congressman representing

their gentrifying neighborhood in Brooklyn,

are each a public success and a private mess.

Their mom, Blanca, left her kids to be raised by their grandmother so that she, Blanca,

could advance a militant political cause.

And now as Puerto Rico faces down a devastating hurricane, Blanca has come barreling back into

their lives.

There is a love story and political corruption and brilliant missives of Puerto Rico status.

But Olga is to me fundamentally about liberation.

So my conversation with Sochiel focuses on the expectations that were placed on her as a kid,

how she freed herself from those expectations,

how she chose to see being 40 and unmarried with no kids as providing her the freedom to take a big leap,

one that has undoubtedly paid off not only as Olga on the New York Times bestsellers list,

it's being turned into a Hulu series, and how our mother's absence has shaped her desire to be a mom herself.

So, Chiel, thank you for doing this.

Thank you for having me.

I'm so delighted.

And I'm a big fan of yours.

So I'm very delighted. Stop.

...