Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

Carmen and Grace

A Novel

Audiobook
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 4 weeks
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 4 weeks

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM SAROYAN INTERNATIONAL PRIZE

"I was crying like I lost my best friend as I finished. . . . This book is an act of love . . . It will break you apart and remind you that we can all be put back together again, stronger, and wiser than before." — XOCHITL GONZALEZ, New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming

An emotionally riveting coming-of-age drama about two cousins lured into the underground drug trade at a young age and the inextricable ties that bind them, as one woman seeks power and the other seeks a way out—the debut of a vibrant and stunningly original new voice in fiction.

Carmen and Grace have been inseparable since they were little girls—more like sisters than cousins, survivors of a childhood marked by neglect and addiction and a system that never valued them. For too long, all they had was each other. That is, until Doña Durka swept into their lives and changed everything, taking Grace into her home, providing stability and support, and playing an outsize role in Carmen's upbringing too.

Durka is more than a beneficent force in their Bronx neighborhood, though. She's also the leader of an underground drug empire, a larger-than-life matriarch who understands the vital importance of taking what power she can in a world too often ruled by violent men. So, when Durka dies suddenly under mysterious circumstances, Carmen and Grace's lives are thrown into chaos. Grace has been primed to take over and has grand plans to expand the business. While Carmen is ready to move on—from the shadow of Durka and her high expectations and, most of all, from always looking over her shoulder in fear. She's also harboring a secret: she's pregnant and starting to show, and desperate to build a new life before the baby arrives.

But how can Carmen leave the only family she's ever known—this tight sisterhood of women known as the D. O. D., a group of lost girls turned skilled professionals under Durka's guiding hand, all bonded in their spirituality and merciless support for one another—especially now, when outside threats are circling, and Grace's plans are speeding recklessly forward?

As tough and tender as its main characters, Carmen and Grace will grab readers from the first page with its raw beauty, depth of feeling, and heart-pounding plot. A moving meditation on the choices of women and the legacy of violence, it's a devastatingly wise and intimate story about the bonds of female friendship, ambition, and found family.

""Melissa Coss Aquino brilliantly delivers a loving novel with characters you are inspired to ride or die with. . . . If you love reading novels about creative, ambitious, and relentless women who are committed to community and making a way out of no way, read this book!"" — ANGIE CRUZ, author of How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water and Dominicana

"Electric, heartrending, and exceptionally tender . . . Every sentence of Melissa Coss Aquino's debut feels acute and deliberate, a shard of glass held up to the light." — DANYA KUKAFKA, bestselling author of Notes on an Execution

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 13, 2023
      In Coss Aquino’s heartrending debut, two cousins become ensnared with a powerful Bronx drug trafficker. Grace, a college-educated young woman who deals drugs for powerful kingpin Doña “Durka” Rodriguez, emerges as the crew’s new putative drug lord after Durka is killed by competing traffickers. In flashbacks, Grace recounts how Durka rescued her at 14 from a neglectful, crack-addicted mother and adopted her, providing a stable home, private school education, car, and other trappings of a middle-class life. At 16, Grace begins handling drug deliveries for Durka and reconnects with her cousin Carmen, who still lives in the neglect and poverty Grace escaped. Grace draws Carmen into the drug trade, though Carmen drops out of high school and forgets about college, thanks to the work’s quick cash. The first half prizes plot over character development, leaving the cast to feel somewhat flat until the second half, when, in the aftermath of Durka’s killing, Carmen gets pregnant at 23 with her boyfriend and faces the tough decision of whether to leave the crew and have the baby. Readers who go the distance will be pleased to find a deep exploration of loyalty and the drug trade’s complex relationship to the community. This is worth a look. Agent: Soumeya Roberts, HG Literary.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading