America Is Not The Heart
by Elaine Castillo
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Pub Date 3 May 2018 | Archive Date 14 May 2018
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Description
'This book is it: one of the best debut novels (and novels, period) of recent years' Elle
A giant debut novel about the redemptive, restorative power of love; about trust and fear; hair and makeup; food and sex; it's about belonging and...not belonging. It's a soulful literary saga set in the early nineties of San Francisco; a coming-of-age about leaving home and, sometimes, the necessity of turning back.
How many lives can one person lead in a single lifetime? When Hero De Vera arrives in America, disowned by her parents in the Philippines, she's already on her third. Her uncle, Pol, who has offered her a fresh start and a place to stay in the Bay Area, knows not to ask about the first and second. And his younger wife, Paz, has learned enough about the might and secrecy of the De Vera family to keep her head down. Only their daughter Roni asks Hero why her hands seem to scream with hurt at the steering wheel of the car she drives to collect her from school, and only Rosalyn, the fierce but open-hearted beautician, has any hope of bringing Hero back from the dead.
Advance Praise
“The next big thing... It has drama and tragedy in spades, but it also has so much love of every kind spilling out of it pages that I closed it each night with a huge, warm smile” - The Paris Review
“This book is it: one of the best debut novels (and novels, period) of recent years. It is the absorbing saga of one family, centred on one young woman, who immigrates to the US from the Philippines; it's about the toil the past has on us, and the false promise of the American Dream; it is about love and intimacy.” – Elle
“A sprawling tale of three generations of Filipino women, this wonderful book encompasses everything from political upheaval to familial understanding.” - Stylist
“Entrancing and magnificent. Don't say you were not told. Dazzling.” - NoViolet Bulawayo
“Beautifully tender, and a powerfully crafted portrayal of intimacy and the rawness of human emotion that will linger with you long after you've finished reading it.” - Otegha Uwagba
“Epic in its scale, sharp-as slam-poetry on the sentence level. Profound and mesmerising.” - Meena Kandasamy
“An intimate epic about immigrant women's losses, triumphs and desires. A bold, tender debut; its characters thrum with life.” - Luiza Sauma
“This is the book I didn't know I needed. This unexpected family, this history, this embrace of the sacred and the profane, this easy humour, this deeply felt human-ness, this messy, perfect love story.” - Jade Chang
“Glorious... a sharp, bracing, often hilarious family epic about a young woman tormented by the relentless ghosts of her past while in search of an American Dream that is not always available to those who seek it.” - Samantha Irby, New York Times
“Wondrous. A nimble, vibrant, deeply moving feat, full of heart, humour and wisdom.” - Irenosen Okojie
“Elaine Castillo's full-throated debut, America is Not the Heart is quite simply one of the best first novels I've ever read.” - John Freeman
“If peaches were the most tender fruit of 2017 thanks to Call Me By Your Name, this year prepare to have your heart melted by a persimmon.” - AnOther Magazine
“In this complex, nuanced novel, Castillo delves into a reality too often ignored by mainstream America, uncovering universal emotional truths along the way.” - Harper's Bazaar
“Castillo emerges as one of 2018's boldest new voices with this debut.” - Entertainment Weekly
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781786491299 |
| PRICE | £14.99 (GBP) |
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