Tías and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us

From the author of For Brown Girls with Sharp Edges and Tender Hearts, a celebration of the women at the heart of Latine families   Born into a large, close-knit family in Nicaragua, Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez grew up surrounded by strong, kind, funny, sensitive, resilient, judgmental, messy, beautiful women. Whether blood relatives or chosen family, these tias and primas fundamentally shaped her view of the world—and so did the labels that were used to talk about them. The tia loca who is shunned for defying gender roles. The pretty prima put on a pedestal for her European features. The matriarch who is the core of her community but hides all her pain. 

In Tias and Primas, the follow-up to her acclaimed debut For Brown Girls with Sharp Edges and Tender Hearts, Mojica Rodríguez explores these archetypes. Fearlessly grappling with the effects of intergenerational trauma, centuries of colonization, and sexism, she attempts to heal the pain that is so often embodied in female family lines.  

Tias and Primas is a deeply felt love letter to family, community, and Latinas everywhere.  View Less