Eccentic Neighborhoods is the captivating story of t wo families whose lives, loves and steamy intrigues coincide with the demise of Puerto Rico's plantation society and the rise of the nouveau riches.Elvira Vernet comes from a male-dominated family of merchants living in the town of La Concordia. Her father, a brilliant businessman and a handsome, eloquent man, cannot help but charm his only daughter. Yet in understanding her obsession with her father, Elvira must first come to terms with her mother, who died many years before, and whose family had its roots in an old plantation culture that could not survive the era of mechanisation her husband helped to create.Lush, vibrant and disarmingly funny, Eccentric Neighborhoods confirms Rosario Ferre's reputation as one of the most colourful and captivating novelists in the Latin American tradition.