Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A uniquely dark, coming-of-age novel ripe with magical realism, music, sorcery and redemption, with sweeping narrative from the author of Bodega Dreams.(English edition: Ta na, by Ernesto Qui onez / 9781984897480 Vintage Books, 9/17/2019]) When Julio, a young Puerto Rican-Ecuadorian boy in Spanish Harlem, hears that Taina, a fifteen-year-old girl from his church, is pregnant, and that both mother and daughter insist that she is a virgin, he decides to believe them.
Ridiculed for his naivet , Julio begins to feel like even more of a misfit than he's always felt. His staunch yet unrequited loyalty to Taina soon unleashes a whirlpool of emotions that bring Julio to question his parents, his religion, and even the basic building blocks of modern science (who's to say Taina's baby's conception wasn't indeed a mystical, scientific miracle?) He finds himself willing to uproot everything he once believed in, and all for the sake of his fervent devotion to the young Puerto Rican girl.
Yet the lengths Julio goes to to defend Taina's purity will thrust him into the girl's murky past. In the midst of it all, he meets Taina's uncle, "El Vejigante", an ex-con who claims that, in order to get closer to the immaculate Taina, Julio must provide financial support to help the future young mother. Dubious but determined, and following the ex-con's instructions, Julio gets entangled in a web of lies and stealing (dogs, for example, from Upper East Siders who will pay hefty rewards to have them returned.) He finally comes face-to-face with Taina, whose mother keeps locked inside their apartment in the projects, but not without bringing his loved ones into his chaotic love affair, and uncovering a family secret that will not leave him unscathed. Ta na is a sweeping story that delivers a subtle yet poignant critique of Latino cultural norms and society, disguised within an absorbing, magical narrative.
Synopsis
Una original y oscura novela de iniciaci n, rebosante de realismo m gico urbano, amor y redenci n, del autor de El vendedor de sue os.
Julio, un joven de origen puertorrique o y ecuatoriano que vive en el barrio de Spanish Harlem en Nueva York, sufre de extra as visiones. Cuando decide creer a Taina, una chica de su escuela que est embarazada, pero que dice ser virgen, su amor ciego por ella desata un torbellino de emociones que llevar n a Julio a cuestionar a sus padres, su religi n e incluso los principios b sicos de la ciencia. Junto al t o de Taina, un ex convicto con un oscuro pasado conocido como "El Vejigante", Julio se ve envuelto en una red de delitos que, aunque lo acercar n finalmente a Taina, terminar n tambi n por revelar un secreto de familia del cual no saldr indemne.
ENGLISH DESCRIPTION
A uniquely dark, coming-of-age novel rife with urban magical realism, love, and redemption, from the author of Bodega Dreams
When Julio, a teenager living in Spanish Harlem, hears that Taina, a pregnant fifteen-year-old from his high school claims to be a virgin, he decides to believe her. Julio has a history of strange visions and his blind and unrequited love for Taina will unleash a whirlpool of emotions that will bring him to question his hard-working Puerto Rican mother and his communist Ecuadorian father, his beliefs and even the building blocks of modern science (after seeing the conception of Taina's baby as a revolution in nature).
After meeting Ta na's uncle, El Vejigante, an ex-con with a dark past, he accepts his proposal to support her during her pregnancy and becomes entangled in a web of crime that, while taking him closer to Ta na, ultimately reveals a family secret that will not leave him unscathed.