Neruda On The Park - Cleyvis Natera

Neruda On The Park - Cleyvis Natera #fiction #books #novel #dominican #nyc



Neruda on the Park

by Cleyvis Natera

Published: May 2022, Ballantine Books (an imprint of Penguin Random House)

Genre: Literary fiction, multigenerational family drama

Overview

The novel is a multigenerational story set primarily in New York, with flashbacks to the Dominican Republic, centered on a fictional neighborhood called Nothar Park that is predominantly Dominican. At the heart of the story is the Guerrero family, who must confront the pressures of gentrification when an aging building in the neighborhood is slated for demolition to make way for luxury condominiums.

The Story

Eusebia Guerrero, her husband Vladimir, and their adult daughter Luz have called the neighborhood home for two decades, and the coming demolition threatens the community they've built there. Eusebia responds by secretly plotting a campaign of sabotage to try to halt the construction project, driven by a fierce desire to protect the only home she has known. Meanwhile, Luz has just been let go from her demanding job as a lawyer, and rather than joining her mother's resistance, she becomes romantically involved with the very developer responsible for the luxury project. This puts mother and daughter on opposite sides of the fight over their neighborhood's future.

Complicating matters further, Eusebia is quietly grappling with an undiagnosed decline in her mental health even as she wages her battle for the community, adding a layer of vulnerability and urgency beneath her fierce exterior.

Voices of the Neighborhood

Interspersed throughout the novel are chapters narrated collectively by "the Tongues" — the neighborhood's gossiping women, who seem to see and hear everything happening in Nothar Park. These interludes give the setting itself a communal, almost choral voice, grounding the personal drama in the life of the block.

Themes

The novel explores gentrification and displacement, mother-daughter conflict, cultural identity and belonging, class and race, and the question of what "home" truly means. As the Guerreros' individual dreams diverge — Luz longing for an Upper West Side apartment, Vladimir hoping to build a house back in the Dominican Republic — the book invites readers to consider whether home is a physical place or something more like a feeling of peace.

Reception

Marking Cleyvis Natera's debut novel, the book received strong critical attention: it was named a most-anticipated book of the year by outlets including TIME, The Today Show, Good Morning America, and Entertainment Weekly, and was a New York Times Editor's Choice pick upon release. It went on to win a Silver Medal for Best First Book of Fiction at the International Latino Book Awards in 2023.

About the Author

Cleyvis Natera was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to the United States at age ten, growing up in New York City. She holds a BA from Skidmore College and an MFA in Fiction from New York University. She now lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with her husband and two children.

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