Erica Ezeifedi, Associate Editor, is a transplant from Nashville, TN that has settled in the North East. In addition to being a writer, she has worked as a victim advocate and in public libraries, where she has focused on creating safe spaces for queer teens, mentorship, and providing test prep instruction free to students. Outside of work, much of her free time is spent looking for her next great read and planning her next snack.
Find her on Twitter at @Erica_Eze_.
With the country the way it is—i.e., a hot mess—Latine Heritage Month feels like it’s coming at the right time. Every year, it runs from September 15th to October 15th (dates that hold a lot of significance for several Latin American countries), and holds a space for us to celebrate Latine Americans.
Through the Latine authors below, we get a chance to experience through prose the many experiences and cultures of the Latine world. There’s a genre-bending tale set in Havana and Cambridge, a darkly funny memoir-in-essays, and even a fun rom-com.
Archive of Unknown Universes by Ruben Reyes Jr.
Ruben Reyes Jr. is the author of the short story collection There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven, and this book is his debut novel. It’s a genre-bending tale of two families in alternate timelines of the Salvadoran civil war. In 1978 Havana and 2018 Cambridge, their stories explore displacement and loss, but also belonging and love. This is one of those books that asks big questions about what could have been. —Vanessa Diaz
Solitaria by Eliana Alves Cruz, translated by Benjamin Brooks
Here, award-winning Afro Brazilian author Eliana Alvez Cruz brings us the story of a Black mother and daughter—Eunice and Mabel, respectively—who work as live-in maids for a wealthy family in a Brazilian city. With slavery still fresh in Brazil’s consciousness, Mabel begins to despise the invisibility she and her mother have perfected as they glide around in unnoticed service to the rich family they live with. Not only that, Mabel is growing sick of the confines of their lives, while Eunice is trapped by them because of all who depend on her. Then a little boy dies, and suddenly, Eunice may no longer be able to quietly accept the class differences she’s so long been ignoring.
Alligator Tears: A Memoir in Essays by Edgar Gomez
In this darkly funny memoir-in-essays, Gomez shows how he and his working-class queer Latine friends used Florida wisdom to pull themselves out of poverty—which is to say that they zig-zagged here and there, doing this scheme and picking up that job, just to make it.
When Javi Dumped Mari by Mia Sosa
Think My Best Friend’s Wedding, but with a happy ending between the leads!
Told in a dual timeline between past and present, When Javi Dumped Mari is the story of two best friends who have been in love with each other but never confessed those feelings. On the eve of their college graduation, they swore to never date someone the other didn’t approve of. Now, years later, Mari is about to get married and Javi didn’t even get the chance to veto the man. Javi has eight weeks to convince Mari he’s the love of her life! — Silvana Reyes Lopez
The Grand Paloma Resort by Cleyvis Natera
As with Natera’s debut, Neruda on the Park, The Grand Paloma Resort is giving us a look into the life of Dominican women, girls, and families. This time, a curandera, or local healer, is at the center. Vida, our healer, is called to the Grand Paloma Resort to see to an unconscious child guest. If Vida can’t wake the child, Laura, a manager at the resort, may see all of her dreams and hard work dashed. But then there’s Laura’s sister, Elena, a babysitter at the resort who relies on pills to function. The unconscious child’s father—who is also really into drugs—has offered Elena money to set him up with local young girls, and though she takes the money, she also tries to get the girls to safety. Then they disappear.
This sounds so messy and tragic, and White Lotus-coded (in the best way).
The Many Mothers of Dolores Moore by Anika Fajardo
Thirty-five-year-old Dolores Moore has been laid off from her job and is going through a breakup, and now she’s grieving the loss of her mother. She’s staring down the task of sorting out her inheritance, all while a Greek chorus of dead relatives’ voices follows her around offering unsolicited advice. Those voices have big feelings about a deathbed promise Dorrie made to her mother to return to her birthplace in Colombia, but she feels like it’s the worst time to leave home. Then a minor medical emergency brings an old flame back into her life, one who offers to house sit so Dorrie can make good on her promise. With the chorus egging her on and a hand-drawn map of Cali, Colombia in her possession, she sets out on a journey she’ll never forget. — Vanessa Diaz
Suggestion Section
Nibbles and Sips:
The Latina Anti-Diet: A Dietitian’s Guide to Authentic Health that Celebrates Culture and Full-Flavor Living by Dalina Soto
Instead of a recipe for a book club treat, I’m sharing yet another book.
Diet culture is obviously exhausting, and while many of us are moving on from it, it can sometimes feel like certain kinds of cuisines are left out of the conversation when it comes to replacing diet culture with something healthy and sustainable, like intuitive eating, for example. That’s where Soto steps in. With The Latina Anti-Diet, she guides us up and away from diet culture towards healthy eating that is culturally rich and full-flavored.
Book Club Tings:
A printable list of book club-friendly questions
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**Below is an extended list for All Access members**
Erica Ezeifedi, Associate Editor, is a transplant from Nashville, TN that has settled in the North East. In addition to being a writer, she has worked as a victim advocate and in public libraries, where she has focused on creating safe spaces for queer teens, mentorship, and providing test prep instruction free to students. Outside of work, much of her free time is spent looking for her next great read and planning her next snack.
Find her on Twitter at @Erica_Eze_.
What a Time to Be Alive by Jade Chang
With humor and insight, Jade Chang tells the story of a woman who begins to unpack a difficult past, just as she becomes an internet folk hero of sorts.
Thereafter Johnnie by Carolivia Herron
Through a parable-like narrative, we see the mythic story of a Black family that strives for excellence in a country tainted by slavery and its repercussions.
The Wax Child by Olga Ravn, translated by Martin Aitken
This well-researched historical novel is set in 17th-century Denmark, where unmarried noblewoman Christenze Kruckow and a few other women are said to be witches possessed by the devil and given powers to steal others’ happiness.
This is based on real witch trials that took place in North Denmark in the 17th century.
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