Underneath It All

Everyone has their role. My mother is the martyr, my father the distant unapproachable figure, and Noel, with a few brief stints in jail, is considered misunderstood, not a handsome loser. Yolie is just outspoken, not a miserable bitter shrew, which would be her clinical diagnosis in the "real" world. And the rest of my brothers and sisters have problems that my parents consider normal, like bad marriages, unruly children, and too many bills. So is it a surprise that I'm considered the troublemaker of the family?

Not happy at home? Move away for college. Hate your job? Find another one. Fallen out of lust, er, love with your husband? Divorce him. I, so far, am the anomaly--or flake--in the family because I'm vocal about how unnecessary it is to be unhappy, and how important it is to do something about it to change your circumstances (thank you, Zoloft!) If I had it my way, my whole family would be comparing dosages at the dinner table the way some families talk about sports or politics. . .

Since graduating from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism with an emphasis in magazine writing, Margo Candela has been enjoying getting her feet wet in the world of writing. She has written for Estylo Magazine, ComputerLife Magazine, BayInsider.com, Beyond.com, and ZuluSports.com. She has also written two screenplays, as well as mainstream fiction, a young adult series, and literary fiction which feature strong, complex Latina characters. Underneath It All is her first novel. She is currently finishing her second. Prolific, savvy, and speaking to the heart of modern day Latinas, Margo Candela is an author to watch.

In a traditional family, the last thing you can be is who you really are, but it s time for Jacqueline Sanchez to find the woman underneath it all...

Everyone has their role. My mother is the martyr, my father the distant unapproachable figure, and Noel, with a few brief stints in jail, is considered misunderstood, not a handsome loser. Yolie is just outspoken, not a miserable bitter shrew, which would be her clinical diagnosis in the "real" world. And the rest of my brothers and sisters have problems that my parents consider normal, like bad marriages, unruly children, and too many bills. So is it a surprise that I m considered the troublemaker of the family?

Not happy at home? Move away for college. Hate your job? Find another one. Fallen out of lust, er, love with your husband? Divorce him. I, so far, am the anomaly -- or flake -- in the family because I m vocal about how unnecessary it is to be unhappy, and how important it is to do something about it to change your circumstances (thank you, Zoloft!) If I had it my way, my whole family would be comparing dosages at the dinner table the way some families talk about sports or politics...

Publishers Weekly

Since leaving hometown L.A., Jacquelyn "Jacqs" Sanchez graduated from Berkeley, married and divorced a gringo and is now working as the personal assistant to the San Francisco mayor's wife. Jacqs hopes to parlay this gig into a job in politics, but a series of unsuitable men, the lingering pain of her divorce and her friends' romantic crises distract her. Candela is an engaging writer, particularly when she manages to make a family full of depressives seem funny, but nothing much happens-characters appear, display their quirk and disappear-and Jacqs, who forever regrets not having gone to law school, is unconvincingly stuck wondering what she should do with her life. With its mildly degrading personal assistantship and frequent fashion name-drops, Candela's debut novel skirts Prada territory, but the boss is fairly benign, and a series of who-slept-with-whom nonmysteries overtake the "awful boss" narrative. The book has its fun moments, but not enough punch to connect them. (Dec.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.