Fr. 34.50

A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens - A Novel

English · Hardback

Shipping usually within 6 to 7 weeks

Description

Read more

Informationen zum Autor Raul Palma is a second-generation Cuban American born and raised in Miami. His short story collection In This World of Ultraviolet Light won the 2021 Don Belton Prize. His writing has appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, The Greensboro Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review , and elsewhere. He teaches fiction at Ithaca College, where he is the associate dean of faculty in Ithaca College’s School of Humanities and Sciences. A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens is his debut novel. Klappentext "Since his wife died, Hugo Contreras's debt from her medical bills has become insurmountable. His world in Miami has shrunk. He shuffles between his efficiency apartment, La Carreta (his favorite place for a cafecito), and a botanica in a strip mall where he works as the resident babalâawo. One day, Hugo's nemesis calls. Alexi Ramirez is a debt collector who has been hounding Hugo for years, and Hugo assumes this call is just more of the same. Except this time Alexi is calling because he needs spiritual help. His house is haunted. Alexi proposes a deal: If Hugo can successfully cleanse his home before Noche Buena, Alexi will forgive Hugo's debt. Hugo reluctantly accepts, but there's one issue: Despite being a babalâawo, he doesn't believe in spirits. Hugo plans to do what he's done with dozens of clients before: use sleight of hand and amateur psychology to convince Alexi the spirits have departed. But when the job turns out to be more than Hugo bargained for, Hugo's old tricks don't work. Memories of his past--his childhood in the Bolivian silver mines and a fraught crossing into the United States as a boy--collide with Alexi's demons in an explosive climax."-- Leseprobe 1 It was Christmastime in Miami, and Hugo hadn't been sleeping well because every time he tried, he'd feel his indebtedness drop into bed with him, this invisible thing. Sometimes it would take hold of his hand, kiss him, then wrap itself around his chest so that it hurt to breathe, or it would slap him awake and demand attention. It was impossible to sleep. It was impossible to imagine a future. He lived in an efficiency. When he sat at his table drinking tea, he could hear the murmur of another family through the drywall. The children whined, laughed, dribbled basketballs. Their noises made him feel like he lived in a real home. From his window, he'd watch them-all in school uniforms-march across the street at 7:05 a.m. to catch the school bus. He'd wanted to be a father. But Meli was dead, and even if she were still alive and he'd managed to be a better husband, they'd always been broke and in want of what they could not afford. They used to browse retail catalogues in the golden hours of the afternoon, but now Hugo tossed them directly in the trash. He avoided her favorite fast-food restaurants and instead practiced growing romaine lettuce on his windowsill. He had no desire for new romantic partners. He barely had the will to eat. His only splurge: On Fridays, he'd drive to La Carreta and order a $2.25 café con leche. He kept a quarter on him for a tip. This one extravagant outing amounted to $10 per month, and though it pained Hugo to overpay for coffee, he needed the company of others. More than the coffee, making a transaction with Barbara, the eldest of the cafeteria workers, brought him dignity. Perhaps it was because she always had nice things to say about his appearance-the clean linen of his tunic, his ceremonial orisha hat, his beaded amulets. When Barbara would reach out and hold his hand, Hugo would pretend he was a true priest, like Lourdes, his supervisor at the Miami Botanica & Spa in Hialeah. He pretended because he was an imposter. He knew this, yet his work depended on him acting as if he were ordained and capable of giving the divination that is received in Ifa. Sometimes, while enjoying a cafecito at the window, he'd hear other patrons take no...

Product details

Authors Raul Palma
Publisher Dutton Books
 
Languages English
Product format Hardback
Released 03.10.2023
 
EAN 9780593472118
ISBN 978-0-593-47211-8
No. of pages 288
Dimensions 158 mm x 236 mm x 25 mm
Subjects Fiction > Narrative literature

Fantasy, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), FICTION / Literary, FICTION / Magical Realism, Magical Realism, Relating to Latin / Hispanic American people, Modern and contemporary fiction: general and literary, FICTION / Hispanic & Latino / General

Customer reviews

No reviews have been written for this item yet. Write the first review and be helpful to other users when they decide on a purchase.

Write a review

Thumbs up or thumbs down? Write your own review.

For messages to CeDe.ch please use the contact form.

The input fields marked * are obligatory

By submitting this form you agree to our data privacy statement.