The Blog

When Tito Loved Clara, Jon Michaud’s debut novel, could have been called A Tale of Two Towns. Most of the story is split between the community of Inwood in northern Manhattan and Millwood, a fictional town in north central New Jersey. It could also have been called A Clash of Two Cultures because it tells of the troubled relationship between two second-generation immigrants from the Dominican Republic, one who is content, or at least resigned, to stay with the old ways and the old neighborhood and one who wants desperately to escape.

I discovered this book at the Baltimore CityLit Festival, where I heard Michaud talk about writing it. I was impressed by what he said about his characters, and I liked that his town of Millwood seems to be located close to Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, where I lived for 12 years. I figured these were people I could understand, and yet their foreign, unfamiliar background gave them a certain allure.

Clara, who lives in Millwood, and Tito, who still lives in Inwood, were high school sweethearts. The teenage romance seemed to end when Clara disappeared, presumably to attend Cornell University, but Tito has never gotten over her, even though he hasn’t seen her for 15 years. In a life-changing act of coincidence, Tito hires Clara’s sister’s boyfriend, Raúl, to help with a job for the moving company that employs Tito. When Raúl is suspected of stealing a bracelet from the client, Tito goes looking for him and winds up at Clara’s home in Millwood, where she lives with her husband and young son.

Although Clara’s neighborhood appears to be a haven of middle-class tranquility, Clara’s life is not serene. Her husband has recently lost his job, and the couple is having trouble conceiving a second child, both of which are playing havoc with their relationship. The last thing she needs is for her first lover to come tumbling back into her life.

But Tito is determined to contact her. Once their wall of communication is cracked, secrets and confessions begin to seep through, starting a tidal wave of actions and reactions that lead to an unexpected conclusion.

These characters lived up to my expectations. I understood them. I also cheered for them at times and ached for them at other times. Their problems were things I know about—infertility, infidelity, unplanned pregnancy, child abuse, lost opportunities—things that happen in my world, and surely happen in most worlds, no matter what they look like from the outside.

As it turns out, Michaud chose the best title for his novel. To talk of two towns or two cultures would be a misnomer, because this sensitive novel proves that whatever our backgrounds, we’re more alike than we are different. In fact, as I read it I kept forgetting that most of the characters are Dominicans. Their story is above all a love story.