My Emerald Green Dress is the riveting account of a woman's thorny yet oddly rewarding life. You will become a part of her emotional journey from the abuse she suffers as an adolescent through her maturation as a self-assured compassionate landowner. The novel is based on a true story.

Il mio vestito verde smeraldo is the Italian translation of the story of an extraordinary woman, Clara, living in the Colombian Andes during the 20th century. It is a story that not only portrays her suffering, the protagonist, but also reflects the long, and arduous physical and metaphoric journey of immigrant women to unknown lands. About the Author Alister Ramirez Marquez is a United States citizen who was born in Colombia. He has a Ph.D in Hispanic Literature from The Graduate Center, CUNY. Previously published works are: Reportaje a once escritores norteamericanos (Planeta Editorial, 1996), Quien se robo los colores? (Wayside, Massachusetts 1999, 2010), Mi vestido verde esmeralda (Ala de Mosca, 2003, 2006), winner of the 2005 Best International Literary Prize by the Art Critics Circle of Chile, Andres Bello: critico (Ala de Mosca, 2005), and his latest novel: Los suenos de los hombres se los fuman las mujeres (Planeta Editorial, 2009). Ramirez Marquez is a professor of Spanish language and Hispanic American literature at The City University of New York, BMCC. He is a contributor for one of the major newspapers in Latin America, El Tiempo of Colombia.

Mi vestido verde esmeralda by Alister Ramrez Mrquez recounts the life story of Clara, born poor in isolated, rural Colombia in 1900, who makes her way, after a mythic journey through forests, mountains and swamps to the western region of the Quindo, to the city of Armenia, now the heart of coffee and banana production. This remarkable novel, first published in 2003, is the tale of Clara's adventurous journey and subsequent rise to prosperity as the owner of a farm and restaurant and mother of six, ending with years of political strife and the dissolution of her family. The novel provides an overview of a century of dramatic strife and change in Clara's personal trajectory and in the history of the nation. Alister Ramrez Mrquez is from this area of Colombia, but lives in New York; he is the author of a number of books, and Mi vestido verde esmeralda is his first novel, fusing familiarity and nostalgia in this tale of a journey through the twentieth century. This novel would be engaging reading in courses on Colombian history or literature, and in courses on topics of search for self-definition (personal and national), fluctuating cycles and rhythms of a century of transitions, life as a journey, or the meaning of progress. This edition of Mi vestido verde esmeralda includes extensive annotation of the Colombian references, and a prologue and bibliography by Clara E. Ronderos and Mary G. Berg, professors of Latin American literature in Massachusetts.