Velorio

DEBUT Twelve-year-old Camila is the first narrator we meet in this searing story, set in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria tore through the island in 2017. Her older sister is killed by a mudslide, and for some time Camila carries the corpse of her sister with her, unable to process what has happened. Eventually, she arrives at Memoria, a dystopian community that a local youth named Urayoán sets up by his own design; his followers are called Reds, and their leader’s ability to commit violent acts has no limits. (The hurricane is called monstrua, a term suitable for Urayoán as well.) The story of Memoria dominates the narrative, and it will remind readers of William Golding’s classic Lord of the Flies. Other narrators appear throughout, particularly Cheo, a poet whose exquisitely beautiful verses go to the soul of one struggling to survive and longing for what has been lost. Meanwhile, Aquino offers an unforgettable description of Maria’s wake (“velorio”).