High Spirits

Pura Belpré Honor Book

 

BEST OF THE YEAR

Chicago Review of Books · Kirkus · Los Angeles Public Library

 

Publishers Weekly Flying Start

 

High Spirits is a collection of eleven interconnected short stories from the Dominican diaspora, from debut author Camille Gomera-Tavarez.

 

It is a book centered on one extended family - the Beléns - across multiple generations.

 

It is set in the fictional small town of Hidalpa - and Santo Domingo and Paterson and San Juan and Washington Heights too.

 

It is told in a style both utterly real and distinctly magical - and its stories explore machismo, mental health, family, and identity.

 

But most of all, High Spirits represents the first book from Camille Gomera-Tavarez, who takes her place as one of the most extraordinary new voices to emerge in years.

 

For fans of Elizabeth Acevedo, Sandra Cisneros, Angie Cruz, and Yaa Gyasi

 

 

P R A I S E

 

★ "Authentic and immersive...A labor of love imbued with dedication to family."

--Kirkus (starred)

 

★ "Deeply personal and relatable. Steeped in nostalgia and harsh but fierce love, this is a memorable family saga in its own right."

--Booklist (starred)

 

★ "Full of vivid and poetic imagery... settings worthy of drinking in, and thematic material ripe for contemplation about identity, intergenerational memory, and patriarchy and toxic masculinity, Gomera-Tavarez's soulfully crafted debut is a sensitive, intrinsically feminist work."

--Publishers Weekly (starred)

 

"A magical and unflinching look at the Dominican Diaspora."

--Dominican Writers Association