Olga Isabel Acevedo
Olga runs a wedding planning business. But she’s not just any wedding planner; she caters to the uber-rich of New York who, of course, have no need for Uber. Planning weddings for rich heirs and heiresses who have never and will never work a day in their lives. Alas, the rich are not nearly as nice as they seem and, besides, Olga’s got family problems to boot. No wonder she dreams of dying.
Pedro Acevedo
Pedro is Olga’s brother who is also running with a crowd guaranteed to make life happy: politicians. He is a kind of male version of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Only without any sense of values or principles. Instead, he seems to be a typical Democrat: making appearances on Morning Joe in between casting the occasional vote which or may not positively impact his gentrified Brooklyn constituents.
Blanca
Oddly enough, these two siblings formed in the womb of a woman so committed to her values and principles that she abandoned her young children to pursue radical left wing militancy full time. Sadly, that seems to have turned out about successfully as one would imagine it to be in America and—much like Hurricane Maria—has re-appeared in their lives like whirlwind full of secrets to be extricated and, if necessary, covered up.
Maria
Maria. The just met a hurricane named Maria. The real life natural disaster—the man-made debacle which followed—plays such a central role in the story that it might as well be considered a character. Without the appearance of Maria—and all its horrific fact-based history—this novel would be completely different.
Matteo
Olga’s less than happy family life and irritating work life gets a little lift with the arrival of a guy named Matteo into her life. He is almost a self-created Brooklyn stereotype whose knowitallism is made less offensive by a certain sweetness of interest in, well, everything. He is also an obsessive collector of items though one may be tempted to suggested he has crossed the line into outright hoarder status. In fact, he is the one who suggests it about himself.
