Brother, Sister, Mother, Explorer
Jamie Figueroa
(Author)
Description
A fableistic, beautifully crafted, poetic debut novel of enormous power and grace about a sister trying to hold back her brother from the edge of the abyss for readers of Jesmyn Ward and Tommy Orange (The New York Times Book Review).In the tourist town of Ciudad de Tres Hermanas, in the aftermath of their mother's passing, two siblings spend a final weekend together in their childhood home. Seeing her brother, Rafa, careening toward a place of no return, Rufina devises a bet: if they can make enough money performing for privileged tourists in the plaza over the course of the weekend to afford a plane ticket out, Rafa must commit to living. If not, Rufina will make her peace with Rafa's own plan for the future, however terrifying it may be. As the siblings reckon with generational and ancestral trauma, set against the indignities of present-day prejudice, other strange hauntings begin to stalk these pages: their mother's ghost kicks her heels against the walls; Rufina's vanished child creeps into her arms at night; and above all this, watching over the siblings, a genderless, flea-bitten angel remains hell-bent on saving what can be saved.
Product Details
Price
$25.00
$23.00
Publisher
Catapult
Publish Date
March 02, 2021
Pages
240
Dimensions
5.7 X 8.3 X 1.1 inches | 0.85 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9781948226882
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About the Author
Jamie Figueroa received her MFA in creative writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts. Her writing has appeared in Epoch, McSweeney's, and American Short Fiction. She is the recipient of the Truman Capote Scholarship and is a Bread Loaf scholar. Boricua by way of Ohio, Figueroa lives in northern New Mexico.
Reviews
A Bustle Most Anticipated Debut of the Year
An Electric Literature Most Anticipated Debut of the Year
One of The Millions' Most Anticipated Books of the Year
A Write or Die Tribe Most Anticipated Book of the Year
A Rumpus Most Anticipated Book of Next Year Brother, Sister, Mother, Explorer is so full of voice. It is utterly bright and original. --Tommy Orange, author of There There Brother, Sister, Mother, Explorer is a haunting of a novel centered around the hustle of an utterly unforgettable brother and sister. Jamie Figueroa's faultless language surprises, enchants, and does nothing less than articulate that which is unseen and eaten by profound grief. Supervised by a wild, booted angel (a character for the ages), this marvel of a first novel seems powered by a force that wrecks itself and is made glorious, again and again, until its stunning conclusion. Singular, devastating, and divine. --Marie-Helene Bertino, author of Parakeet In language that is blade-sharp and sun-bright, Jamie Figueroa weaves a story of generations of love and loss that is powerful and aching and utterly new. Brother, Sister, Mother, Explorer will never, ever leave me. --Ramona Ausubel, author of Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty and No One Is Here Except All of Us Jamie Figueroa's writing is decadent. Sentences in this book require the reader to breathe and sigh with the revelation of their beauty; others slap you in the face with their sharp assumptiveness. Brother, Sister, Mother, Explorer begins in prayer and does what prayer does--gives us hope, reveals our deepest griefs, and sometimes even redeems. --Tiphanie Yanique, author of Land of Love and Drowning
An Electric Literature Most Anticipated Debut of the Year
One of The Millions' Most Anticipated Books of the Year
A Write or Die Tribe Most Anticipated Book of the Year
A Rumpus Most Anticipated Book of Next Year Brother, Sister, Mother, Explorer is so full of voice. It is utterly bright and original. --Tommy Orange, author of There There Brother, Sister, Mother, Explorer is a haunting of a novel centered around the hustle of an utterly unforgettable brother and sister. Jamie Figueroa's faultless language surprises, enchants, and does nothing less than articulate that which is unseen and eaten by profound grief. Supervised by a wild, booted angel (a character for the ages), this marvel of a first novel seems powered by a force that wrecks itself and is made glorious, again and again, until its stunning conclusion. Singular, devastating, and divine. --Marie-Helene Bertino, author of Parakeet In language that is blade-sharp and sun-bright, Jamie Figueroa weaves a story of generations of love and loss that is powerful and aching and utterly new. Brother, Sister, Mother, Explorer will never, ever leave me. --Ramona Ausubel, author of Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty and No One Is Here Except All of Us Jamie Figueroa's writing is decadent. Sentences in this book require the reader to breathe and sigh with the revelation of their beauty; others slap you in the face with their sharp assumptiveness. Brother, Sister, Mother, Explorer begins in prayer and does what prayer does--gives us hope, reveals our deepest griefs, and sometimes even redeems. --Tiphanie Yanique, author of Land of Love and Drowning
