Love in Any Language: A Memoir of a Cross-cultural Marriage

by Evelyn Kohl LaTorre

Overview

Love across cultures is tested when Antonio, a penniless university student, and Evelyn, a strong-willed Peace Corps volunteer, succumb to their attraction to one another at the end of her two-year commitment in Peru and Evelyn gets pregnant. Deeply in love, the twenty-three-year-olds marry in Cusco—and decide to begin their married life in Northern California.

Evelyn, like most wives of the ’60s and ’70s, expects her husband to support their family. And Antonio tries to take his place as head of the household, but he must first learn English, complete college, and find an adequate job. To make ends meet, Evelyn secures full-time positions, leaving their infant son in the care of others, and they both go on to attend college—she for two years, he for six. Then Antonio is offered a full-time professorship at the university he attended in Peru, and he takes it—leaving Evelyn a single parent. Parenthood, financial stress, the pull of both countries, and long visits from Antonio’s mother threaten to destroy the bonds that brought them together.

Clear-eyed and frank, Love in Any Language illustrates the trials and joys in the blending of two cultures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647421953
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	09/28/2021
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Evelyn Kohl LaTorre grew up in rural Southeastern Montana, surrounded by sheep and cattle ranches, before coming to California with her family at age sixteen. She holds a doctorate in multicultural education from the University of San Francisco, and a master’s degree in social welfare from UC Berkeley. She worked as a bilingual school psychologist and school administrator in public education until her retirement. Evelyn loves to travel; to date, she and her husband have traveled to some 100 countries. You can view her stories and photos on her website, www.evelynlatorre.com. Her writing has appeared in World View Magazine, The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, the California Writers Club Literary Review, the Tri-City Voice, Dispatches, and Clever Magazine. She is currently completing a second book about the struggles and triumphs of a bicultural marriage in the US. Evelyn lives in Fremont, California.

Editorial Reviews

2022 Book Excellence Awards Winner in Multicultural Non-Fiction

“You’ll be as awed as I was at how an indomitable woman turns a shotgun wedding to a Quechua-Peruvian man into a bulletproof marriage as she gives up her preconceived ideas of what her husband’s role should be and starts playing it herself. Evelyn provides for her spouse and their children while taking classes, working, commuting, and getting advanced degrees. A how-to for any woman who’s determined, super-smart, assertive, and willing to wait for a husband to come into his own element. A thrilling ride all the way.”
—Tina Martin, author of Everything I Should Have Learned I Could Have Learned in Tonga

“Dr. Evelyn LaTorre’s book is an intimate rendition of her life. It is an intricate book, replete with candid detail, that aims to show us how living with The Other can enrich our lives and help us grow, even if the going is at times rough. I thoroughly recommend the book.”
—Pedro Tabensky, PhD, author of Happiness: Personhood, Community, Purpose

“This is a most fascinating book. LaTorre’s excellent descriptive power, looking back on her youth, is refreshing with its innocence, coura- geous faith, and passionate energy as she follows her heart and builds a life for herself and Antonio back in the US. Her opening sentence says it all: ‘I loved Peru.’ Readers will love her candid story.”
—Kenneth Kelzer, LCSW, author of The Sun and the Shadow: My Experiment with Lucid Dreaming

“The memoir includes all the challenges involved in merging two marvelous cultures and two individual lives. Evelyn manages her marriage while raising two children and pursuing career goals that include a doctorate. The reader experiences her amazing journey to become a successful career woman who has maximized her potential. A fascinating read.”
—Dr. Jackie M. Allen, MFT, associate professor of education at the University of LaVerne and coauthor of A Pathway to PDS Partnership: Using the PDSEA Protocol

“Compelling and highly readable, this book gently tells of a cross-cultural marriage that might well have gone wrong—but instead lasted for five decades. Resolving clashes of ambition, personality, and values, the author and her Peruvian husband found a balance that worked. In an era of divorce and heartbreak, Love in Any Language offers hope.”
—Dori Jones Yang, author of When the Red Gates Opened: A Memoir of China’s Reawakening

From the Publisher