Family Lore: A Novel

Family Lore: A Novel

NATIONAL BESTSELLER A  GOOD MORNING AMERICA  BOOK CLUB PICK! Winner of the NAACP Image Award, Outstanding Literary Work, Fiction Shortlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize From National Book Award-winning author Elizabeth Acevedo comes the story of one Dominican American family told through the voices of its women Flor has a gift: she can predict, to the day, when someone will die. So when she decides she wants a living wake—a party to bring her family and community together to celebrate the long life she’s led—her sisters are surprised. Has Flor foreseen her own death, or someone else’s? Does she have other motives? She refuses to tell her sisters, Matilde, Pastora, and Camila. But Flor isn’t the only person with secrets: her sisters are hiding things, too. And the next generation, cousins Ona and Yadi, face tumult of their own. Spanning the three days prior to the wake,  Family Lore  traces the lives of each of the Marte women, weaving together past and present, Santo Domingo and New York City. Told with Elizabeth Acevedo’s inimitable and incandescent voice, this is an indelible portrait of sisters and cousins, aunts and nieces—one family’s journey through their history, helping them better navigate all that is to come. A Best Book of 2023 from: Washington Post * Good Housekeeping * Real Simple * Harper's Bazaar * Elle * Time * NPR “A juicy novel of sisterhood, resilience, and magic. . . . Acevedo’s novel starring a spunky narrator will enchant both fans and new readers.” - Booklist “A powerful multigenerational story that travels from Santo Domingo to New York City and spans decades. . . . This is a big hearted tale that seeks to answer, or at least make sense of, our deepest fears.” - Bust “Whether you come for the  chisme , the magic or the desire to read something real, you'll leave having devoured a lyrical family saga that touches so many real, tender parts of what it means to be human.” - Christina Cala, senior producer, Code Switch “The Marte sisters—Matilde, Flor, Pastora, and Camila—live at the center of Elizabeth Acevedo's prismatic new novel, Family Lore , a labyrinthine tale of sisterhood and the chaos of love. . . . The depth, grace and nuance Acevedo gives her characters is palpable; her love for these women comes through with arresting clarity. . . . Pearls of magic and wisdom, hard but not hardened, the story of the Marte sisters is a treasure to behold.” - Rebecca Carroll, New York Times Book Review “[Elizabeth Acevedo’s] most impressive emotional excavation yet, a decade-spanning epic that sees Acevedo deftly stretching out into the new space afforded by a shift in audience. Vividly rendered and deliciously complex,  Family Lore  will stick with you long after you leave Flor’s table.” - Atlantic “Acevedo paints a multifaceted portrait of Dominican American women coming to terms with mortality, navigating womanhood, past loves and self-love in Family Lore ." - USA Today “This novel takes us through the rich history and frenetic present of the Marte family and between Santo Domingo and New York City, culminating in a celebration of community, sisterhood and love that will have you wiping away happy tears." - Good Housekeeping "There is potent magic in these pages, passed down through this lineage of powerful sisters who have captured my heart. How does Acevedo do it? Reading Family Lore  is like an embrace, and I am filled with nostalgia for a family I have never had and could never have imagined." - Ruth Ozeki, author of The Book of Form and Emptiness “[A] lush and lyrical Dominican American drama.” - NPR.org “Acevedo is a master of time. Family Lore is full of beautiful prose, even-handed magic, and all the pains and triumphs of intergenerational bonds. Tender, moving, and altogether lovely. Not one word is wasted here.” - Kiley Reid, author of Such a Fun Age “National Book Award winner Elizabeth Acevedo has written her first novel for adults, and we’re here for it…humorous and heartfelt.” - Real Simple “[ Family Lore] has no shortage of family drama, secrets, and chisme to keep you entertained in its entirety." - Elle.com "Acevedo’s treatment of magic as an everyday possibility is compelling, but there is also magic in the wonder, surprise, frustrations, and joys the characters experience in their relationships with one another. . . . [ Family Lore ] is also, like all her novels, the project of a poet: her obsession with imagery, interiority, and making every word count is what makes her descriptions and dialogue sing; her characters think and speak in voices that feel distinct and alive.” - Nicole Chung, TIME “[A] vibrant family saga . . . . Acevedo wields her own sort of magic in her first novel for adults, deftly blending comedy and sorrow. Family Lore is an absorbing, entertaining portrait of a Dominican American woman whose exceptional relationship with death keeps her family — and readers — guessing.” - Star Tribune "Acevedo use