First published 2021
Jeanette struggles with addiction in present-day Miami while her mother Carmen keeps family history locked away. Carmen, a Cuban immigrant still carrying trauma from her own displacement, watches her daughter spiral while wrestling with memories of her difficult relationship with her own mother. When their neighbor gets detained by ICE, Jeanette impulsively takes in the woman's daughter. This decision forces both women to confront what they've been avoiding. Jeanette's determination to understand her family's past leads her to make a journey to Cuba to face her grandmother and uncover the secrets Carmen has guarded. Their story spans from 19th-century cigar factories to modern detention centers, tracing a path from Cuba through Mexico to Miami. The novel reveals how personal betrayals interweave with political upheavals across generations of women. Each mother's choices echo through her daughter's life, creating patterns of silence and revelation that shape their family's destiny.
Genres: historical-fiction, addiction, contemporary, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-saga, intergenerational-trauma, secrets-and-lies
Setting: Cuba, Miami
Period: 19th-century, 21st-century
207 pages · Hardcover · Flatiron Books
Content warnings: addiction