Come Together, Fall Apart

An exciting New Yorkerdebut fiction writer and new voice in Latina fiction brings us stories as beautiful as they are gritty, as haunting as they are immediate. From its dusty city streets lined with lottery stands and popsicle vendors to its humid and desolate beaches, Cristina Henríquez brings Panama vibrantly to life on the pages of her remarkable debut. Just as Junot Díaz created an intensely urban literary landscape from the barrios of the Dominican Republic and the immigrant...
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An exciting New Yorkerdebut fiction writer and new voice in Latina fiction brings us stories as beautiful as they are gritty, as haunting as they are immediate. From its dusty city streets lined with lottery stands and popsicle vendors to its humid and desolate beaches, Cristina Henríquez brings Panama vibrantly to life on the pages of her remarkable debut. Just as Junot Díaz created an intensely urban literary landscape from the barrios of the Dominican Republic and the immigrant communities of New Jersey, Henríquez now carves out a vision of contemporary Panama as seen through the eyes of those who call it home and those who, in making lives in the States, have become outsiders. Come Together, Fall Apartintroduces us to young people at emotional crossroads-a man in a remote beach town who can't decide whether to marry his girlfriend; a girl whose close relationship with her mother is strained by her feelings for her first boyfriend; an American girl who is staying with her grandparents in Panama while her parents divorce at home; a young woman who wants more from life than her boyfriend, job, and drug habit have to offer-and vividly captures the varied landscapes and shifting culture of a country in transition. These stories of family bonds and generational conflicts, youthful infatuation and genuine passion are tender, ambitious, and unflinching. They herald the arrival of a fresh, exciting, and lavishly talented new voice in American literature.