Twice a Quinceañera ~ by Yamile Saied Méndez, 2022, romantic comedy, 330 pages
One month short of her wedding day — and her thirtieth birthday — Nadia Palacio finds herself standing up to her infuriating, cheating fiancé for the first time ever. But that same courage doesn’t translate to breaking the news to her Argentinian family. She’s hyperventilating before facing them when she glimpses a magazine piece about a Latina woman celebrating herself — with a second quinceañera, aka Sweet 15. And that gives Nadia a brilliant idea. With a wedding venue already paid for, and family from all over the world with plane tickets, Nadia is determined to create her own happily-ever-after. The math adds up perfectly. As the first professional in her family, raising a glass to her achievements is the best plan she’s had in years. And then she discovers that the man in charge of the venue is none other than her college fling.
Luz “Little Light” Lopez, a tea leaf reader and laundress, is left to fend for herself after her older brother, Diego, a snake charmer and factory worker, is run out of town by a violent white mob. As Luz navigates 1930s Denver, she begins to have visions that transport her to her Indigenous homeland in the nearby Lost Territory. Luz recollects her ancestors’ origins, how her family flourished, and how they were threatened. She bears witness to the sinister forces that have devastated her people and their homelands for generations. In the end, it is up to Luz to save her family stories from disappearing into oblivion. The complex lives of the Lopez family fill the pages of this novel about survival, family secrets, and love.
1 comment:
Twice a Quinceanera looks really fun
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