“This debut novel addresses serious family matters but bursts with humor as well... a rich portrait." —Kirkus
Tell It to Me Singing
A Novel
Description
An “utterly unforgettable” (Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Nothing to See Here) debut novel about a Cuban American family sent into a tailspin when the ailing matriarch confesses the first of several shocking secrets to her daughter.
Mónica Campo is pregnant with her first child when, moments before being wheeled into emergency heart surgery, her mother confesses a long-held secret: Mónica’s father is not the man who raised her. But when her mother wakes up and begins having delusional episodes, Mónica doesn’t know what to believe—whether the confession was real or just a channeling of the telenovela her mother watches nightly.
In her despair, Mónica wants to speak with only one person: her ex-boyfriend of five years, Manny. She can’t help but worry, though, what this says about her relationship with her fiancé and father of her unborn child.
Mónica’s search for the truth leads her to a new understanding of the past—the early ’80s, when her parents arrived from Cuba on the famous Mariel boatlift, and the tumultuous ’70s, a decade after Castro’s takeover, when some people were still secretly fighting his regime—people like her mother and the man she claims is Mónica’s real father.
Tell It to Me Singing is “so fantastic and funny, so full of life, and so full of genuine heart that, like your favorite binge-worthy show, you'll have trouble pulling yourself away” (Cristina Henríquez, author of The Great Divide). This “rich portrait” (Kirkus Reviews) of a family takes readers from Miami to Cuba to the jungles of Costa Rica and, along the way, explores the question of how and to whom we belong, how a life is built, and how we know we’re home.
Reviews
"[A] juicy, big-hearted family drama... This debut is warm, moving, and packed with high drama." —Modern Mrs. Darcy
“Riveting… As the story unfurls, Tell It to Me Singing develops into a deeply heartfelt, frequently humorous and historically germane exploration of how one family uses the combination of truth and love to heal from generational pain. A propulsive, heart-pumping and unexpected melodrama that is achingly human and bursting with love.” —Atlanta Journal Constitution
“Family secrets are at the heart of this twisty read… Mónica’s Journey was complex, funny and inspiring.” —FIRST for Women
