Olga Dies Dreaming

Olga Dies Dreaming is Xochitl Gonzalez’s first novel. Published in 2021 by Flatiron Books, it tells the story of the Acevedo siblings—wedding planner Olga and congressman Prieto—whose mother has Blanca left to join a Puerto Rican revolutionary organization. As Hurricanes Irma and Maria are about to hit the island, the Acevedos must wrestle with their past, their mother’s involvements in growing unrest in Puerto Rico, and their ability to live in her shadow. Gonzalez’s novel was a New York Times Bestseller and won the Brooklyn Public Library Prize. It was also an International Latino Book Award finalist.

This study guide refers to the 2021 edition published by Flatiron Books.

Content Warning: This novel features brief descriptions of sexual assault, suicide, and intolerance toward gay people.

Plot Summary

The novel features chapters that narrate events in Olga and Prieto Acevedo’s lives, and intersperses these with letters from Olga’s mother, Blanca.

In June 2017, Olga, a wedding planner, learns that Jan, her preferred catering manager, has died by suicide. At Jan’s funeral, Olga is surprised to discover that Jan never came out to his parents; later that day, she starts a relationship with Matteo, a man she meets at a bar. They commiserate about going to school in New England. After Matteo reveals that he is a hoarder and confides that his mother passed away from cancer, Olga shares about her parents and her mother’s absence from her life. She starts falling in love with Matteo.

In letters from 2001, Blanca extolls the sacrifice that Olga is making for the Puerto Rican revolution in having her mother absent from her life. She promises that one day Olga will see the revolution and be proud of her mother. Blanca also criticizes Olga’s choice to attend an Ivy League school, for fear that it will erase her Puerto Rican identity. Olga was named for the revolutionary Olga Garriga, but Blanca worries that her daughter will not live up to this name. Blanca encourages Olga to split up with her boyfriend at the time, since he will only hold her back.

In 2017, Olga’s brother Prieto is a congressman who is being blackmailed for being gay by the Selby brothers, powerful businessmen who have forced him to vote in their interest on several measures ever since he was elected to City Council. Olga suspects that her brother might be gay, but she has not spoken to him about it. Prieto has just voted to block oversight hearings on the Puerto Rican Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA)—which put a control board in place in Puerto Rico—just as the Selbys wanted him to. In response, there are protests at the University of Puerto Rico.

In a letter from 2001, Blanca advises Prieto that now that he is starting his political career, Blanca thinks it would be good for him to get married. In 2017, Prieto receives an anonymous box of worms—he knows this package is from his mother, in response to his vote not to investigate the possibly corrupt PROMESA board.

In 2017, Olga is also having an unsatisfying casual affair with her boss, Dick Eikenborn; when Dick invites her to the hottest party of the year, Olga is excited to go, but doesn’t want Dick to assume that they are together. Olga shows up at the party with Prieto to avoid looking like she came with Dick. When Olga helps a server, Dick accuses her of looking like the help. Enraged, she breaks up with Dick on the spot. On the ride home, when Olga asks Prieto if Jan’s former boyfriend can move into the apartment in their Abuelita’s house, Prieto becomes cagey and defensive, especially after learning that Jan had HIV. Olga connects this with the fact that Prieto never went to see their father, Johnny, when he was dying from AIDS. Meanwhile, Prieto ruminates on Jan, whom he slept with. He is terrified of having AIDS like his father.

In a letter, Blanca urges Prieto not to see Johnny in the hospital.

In 2017, Olga’s ex-boyfriend, Reggie King, has been in touch with Blanca, who needs Olga’s help. Shocked, Olga discusses Blanca with her Tía Lola. Blanca never seemed interested in mothering, and was very critical of Olga, Prieto, and their father.

After their cousin Mabel’s wedding, Prieto reveals that he might be HIV-positive; Olga will take him to get tested. The next morning, Hurricane Maria hits Puerto Rico, adding to the power outage already caused by Hurricane Irma. Prieto tests positive for HIV. Soon after, Olga is asked to do a segment on Good Morning, Later. When one of the hosts brings up the hurricanes, Olga explodes, ranting about how the US has purposely left Puerto Rico without support—as Puerto Ricans are forced to leave the island, the land is open for corporate real estate development. As a result of this segment, Olga’s career is over.

In Puerto Rico, Dick and the Selby brothers plan to wait to install solar panels in Puerto Rico while many of the island’s inhabitants seek refuge elsewhere. That way, they can claim more land for their facilities and for resorts, making a large profit off of the hurricane.

In a letter from May 2016, Blanca asks Prieto to vote against PROMESA.

In 2017, a blindfolded Prieto is in the mountains in Puerto Rico, being taken to the compound of the Pañuelos Negros, the organization led by his mother. Soon after, Blanca calls Olga’s apartment. Olga hears her mother’s voice for the first time in over 20 years. Blanca praises Olga’s recent television appearance and asks her to convince Dick to sell her organization 2 million dollars’ worth of solar panels. Prieto meets with his mother in person. She is uninterested in his life and in her granddaughter. Alienating Prieto further, Blanca reveals that she never wanted to have children and tells him to stay off of Puerto Rico. When she tries to embrace him before sending him home, Prieto rebukes her.

Olga arrives at Dick’s apartment and offers him her mother’s idea as a business opportunity. Dick doesn’t think she is serious, and when she refuses to sleep with him, he rapes her. Afterwards, Olga shuts herself in her apartment and refuses to see anyone, including Matteo. She does not hear from her mother. Worried, Matteo goes to see Tía Lola, and she and Mabel use the spare key to get in. As they take care of Olga, Tía Lola finds Blanca’s letters, realizing how much Blanca has been manipulating them their whole lives.

Prieto holds a press conference and announces that he is both HIV-positive and gay. Olga goes to Matteo’s house and tells him everything. He accepts her and suggests that they should both go to therapy. He also reveals that he has long been investing in properties in Brooklyn and is very wealthy.

The novel flashes forward to 2025. Olga and Matteo are still together, though they have been unsuccessful in their attempts to have children. Prieto is engaged to a man named Marcus. There is a revolution in Puerto Rico, and their mother is behind it—her face is on the flags of the Pañuelos Negros. Still, Olga is pleased to see that Puerto Ricans are rising up. She debates reporting her mother to the FBI because she is dangerous, but instead, she goes home.