Pablo and Beth have been happily married for twenty years, but a traumatic experience with an older woman when Pablo was a teen resurfaces in his psyche and threatens to destroy his current life. He resolves to confront the woman in question, but their relationship is overlaid with strong family ties. As he tries to distance himself emotionally from the memory, he discovers that his son is being physically abused by a boyfriend. Pablo struggles mightily to come to terms with his own past as he tries to protect his son. Woven into his struggles is the family history his Cuban mother divulges, and the social perspective of Akhil, a Syrian immigrant he befriends, and who proves to be devastatingly influential. In the end, Pablo succumbs to forces outside of himself that are mightier than he could have imagined.
"Sotolongo's writing is elegant and dynamic. This new book is a page turner as you become fully involved in the lives of his characters. Riveting reading from a highly gifted wordsmith."
Virgil Suárez, author of AMERIKAN CHERNOBYL and THE PAINTED BUNTING'S LAST MOLT.
"In this deeply affecting novel of lovers and families and islands of all kind, Sotolongo captures the long impossible shadow that abuse casts over its victims' lives with sensitivity and honesty that borders on the supernatural … a powerful achievement."
Junot Díaz, author of THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAU
