Velorio

Navarro Aquino debuts with an elegiac and fervent ode to Puerto Rico that opens in the wake of 2017’s Hurricane Maria, as people grow increasingly desperate for food, water, and gasoline. In the absence of effective government, a magnetic young man named Urayoán sees an opportunity to take power, and—supported by his red-shirted minions—founds a self-sufficient society called Memoria. Urayoán limits Memoria’s inhabitants to young adults and teens, and the novel follows several of them, first as they follow signs in search of Memoria, rumored to be “the center of all things,” and later as they contend with Memoria’s growing violence and instability. There’s tough, independent Bayfish; his happy-go-lucky friend Banto; and Camila, who wanders the island, trancelike, carrying the corpse of her older sister, who was killed by a mudslide. The ambitious, polyphonic first half takes a little while to build steam, but once the characters gather in Memoria, the narrative takes off as Memoria threatens to collapse. Graphic, unsettling scenes of animalistic violence orchestrated by Urayoán are studded with moments of emotional clarity and grace. Throughout, Aquino’s characters grapple with all they have lost and wrestle with the temptation to feed their nostalgia for a place and a past that never really existed. This lyrical and emotionally raw story will leave readers reflecting on the pain and promise of memory. (Jan.)