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The co-op bookstore for avid readers
This Is the Only Kingdom
Critic Reviews
Good
Based on 5 reviews on
LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL AWARD - From the Whiting Award-winning author Jaquira Díaz, an epic novel of a mother and daughter wrestling with the aftermath of a murder, set against the backdrop of a tightknit, working-class barrio in Puerto Rico.
When Maricarmen meets Rey el Cantante, beloved small-time Robin Hood and local musician on the rise, she begins to envision a life beyond the tight-knit community of el Caserío, Puerto Rico - beyond cleaning houses, beyond waiting tables, beyond the constant tug of war between the street hustlers and los camarones. But breaking free proves more difficult than she imagined, and she soon finds herself struggling to make a home for herself, for Rey, his young brother Tito, and eventually, their daughter Nena. Until one fateful day changes everything. Fifteen years later, Maricarmen and Nena find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation as the community that once rallied to support Rey turns against them. Now Nena, a teenager haunted by loss and betrayal and exploring her sexual identity, must learn to fight for herself and her family in a world not always welcoming. For lovers of the Neapolitan novels, This is the Only Kingdom is an immersive and moving portrait of a family - and a community - torn apart by generational grief, and a powerful love letter to mothers, daughters, and the barrios that make them.
When Maricarmen meets Rey el Cantante, beloved small-time Robin Hood and local musician on the rise, she begins to envision a life beyond the tight-knit community of el Caserío, Puerto Rico - beyond cleaning houses, beyond waiting tables, beyond the constant tug of war between the street hustlers and los camarones. But breaking free proves more difficult than she imagined, and she soon finds herself struggling to make a home for herself, for Rey, his young brother Tito, and eventually, their daughter Nena. Until one fateful day changes everything. Fifteen years later, Maricarmen and Nena find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation as the community that once rallied to support Rey turns against them. Now Nena, a teenager haunted by loss and betrayal and exploring her sexual identity, must learn to fight for herself and her family in a world not always welcoming. For lovers of the Neapolitan novels, This is the Only Kingdom is an immersive and moving portrait of a family - and a community - torn apart by generational grief, and a powerful love letter to mothers, daughters, and the barrios that make them.
Book Details
- Publisher: Algonquin Books
- Publish Date: Oct 21st, 2025
- Pages: 336
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 9.37in - 5.91in - 1.18in - 1.23lb
- EAN: 9781616209148
- Categories: • Hispanic & Latino - Family Life• Family Life - General• LGBTQ+ - General
About the Author
Born in Puerto Rico, Jaquira Díaz was raised between Humacao, Fajardo, and Miami Beach. She is the author of Ordinary Girls: A Memoir, winner of a Whiting Award, a Florida Book Awards Gold Medal, a Lambda Literary Awards finalist, an American Booksellers Association Indies Introduce Selection, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection, an Indie Next Pick, a Library Reads pick, and finalist for the B&N Discover Prize. The recipient of the Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction, the Alonzo Davis Fellowship from VCCA, two Pushcart Prizes, an Elizabeth George Foundation grant, and fellowships from MacDowell, the Kenyon Review, Bread Loaf, Sewanee, the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, and the Black Mountain Institute at UNLV, Díaz has written for The Atlantic, The Guardian, Time Magazine, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, and The Fader, and her stories, poems, and essays have been anthologized in The Best American Essays, The Breakbeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNext, Best American Experimental Writing, and The Pushcart Prize anthology. In 2022, she held the Mina Hohenberg Darden Chair in Creative Writing at Old Dominion University's MFA program and a Pabst Endowed Chair for Master Writers at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. She lives in New York and teaches at Columbia University.
Critics’ reviews
Praise for this book
A Publishers Lunch Buzz Book
"In her debut novel, Whiting Award winner Jaquira Díaz expands with lyric force a story of a multigenerational family set between Puerto Rico and Miami. A lush, unflinching narrative about colorism, survival, love, music and the brutal beauty of housing project life."--USA Today
"Gutting and gorgeous."--People Magazine
"An epic and intimate story that offers searing emotion and a look into the long reach of history on individuals and communities." --Chicago Review of Books, "12 Must-Read Books of October"
"Díaz writes beautifully about grief, identity, addiction, family, and the blurry line between myth, truth, and history. A sweeping and touching debut about love, generational trauma, and complex mother-daughter relationships."--Kirkus Reviews
"This is an extraordinary debut! Jaquira Díaz delivers a haunting meditation around the painful bonds of family and immerses readers in a world where the echoes of the past shape the future in devastating ways. A poignant, mesmerizing read that cements Díaz as a writer to be reckoned with."--Angie Cruz, author of How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water
Named a Most Recommended Book of the Year by Electric Literature
Named a Most Anticipated Book of the Year by Debutiful
Named a Most Anticipated Book of the Year by Debutiful
Praise for Ordinary Girls
"[Ordinary Girls] belongs on your must-read lists. Díaz is a masterful writer . . . Writing with refreshing honesty, she talks about despair, depression, love, and hope with such vibrancy that her vivid portrayal will stay with you long after the final page."
--O: The Oprah Magazine "A skilled writer, Díaz is meticulous in her craft, and on page after page her writing truly sings . . . This brutally honest coming-of-age story is a painful yet illuminating memoir, a testament to resilience."
--New York Times Book Review "Incredible . . . Beautiful . . . Gorgeous and propulsive prose."
--NBC / Today (Isaac Fitzgerald) "Outstanding. A powerful and lyrical coming-of-age story, Ordinary Girls is a candid illustration of shame, despair and violence as well as joy and triumph. Against a Puerto Rican backdrop, this debut is compassionate, brave and forgiving."
--Ms. Magazine
"[Ordinary Girls] belongs on your must-read lists. Díaz is a masterful writer . . . Writing with refreshing honesty, she talks about despair, depression, love, and hope with such vibrancy that her vivid portrayal will stay with you long after the final page."
--O: The Oprah Magazine "A skilled writer, Díaz is meticulous in her craft, and on page after page her writing truly sings . . . This brutally honest coming-of-age story is a painful yet illuminating memoir, a testament to resilience."
--New York Times Book Review "Incredible . . . Beautiful . . . Gorgeous and propulsive prose."
--NBC / Today (Isaac Fitzgerald) "Outstanding. A powerful and lyrical coming-of-age story, Ordinary Girls is a candid illustration of shame, despair and violence as well as joy and triumph. Against a Puerto Rican backdrop, this debut is compassionate, brave and forgiving."
--Ms. Magazine
"With stirring prose and an unflinching gaze, Jaquira Díaz viscerally renders one family's origin story against the backdrop of Miami and Puerto Rico of the recent past-- familiar to some, forgotten to many. This is The Only Kingdom is a look into dark social truths that one woman must face as a young matriarch, fighting for her family's survival. Yet Díaz offers up no tragedy here, but a light through her daughter, who conjures up not just a fierce will to survive, but to thrive-- as her fullest and whole self-- reminding us that this life must be worth living to its fullest and truest."
--Xochitl Gonzalez, author of Olga Dies Dreaming
--Xochitl Gonzalez, author of Olga Dies Dreaming
"Diaz's first novel powerfully highlights the desperation of lives lived on the edge even as rays of hope sometimes peek through . . . YAs will appreciate the nuanced layers of this lively story set in a time and place where children grow up much too quickly."--Booklist
"A stark and blunt love cuts through this story's grieving heart. To achieve an epic sway, Díaz drenches us in rigorous sparkling detail. I had hoped a book like this would come along and fill in a missing gap of our diasporic history, but I never dreamed it would arrive with such muscle and lucidity."--Quiara Alegría Hudes, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of My Broken Language
"This is the Only Kingdom is beautiful, stunning, striking--a story built to haunt you in all the very best ways. The family sits here as a slippery spiral, telegraphing the past, present, and future with a gorgeous willingness to break it all open. Love tender and aching like an unseen bruise. No one writes like Jaquira. She's in a league of her own."
--Kristen Arnett, author of Stop Me If You've Heard This One
--Kristen Arnett, author of Stop Me If You've Heard This One
"Díaz's command of her craft and expertise continue to reveal her as a writer who understands how to transmute the rawness of real life onto the page. Readers will not just feel engrossed, but emotionally invested in every turn and utterly committed to Maricarmen, Nena, and the people of el Caserío. This Is the Only Kingdom is full of heart -- a wonderful novel from a singular talent."
--Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"This Is the Only Kingdom" is more than a story of survival in El Caserío. It's a story about memory, imagination and how a place shapes the lives of those who live in it. Music weaves through the streets, queerness moves at the story's core and grief carries along the characters' journeys. . . . the rhythms and voices of the barrio linger with you long after the final page." --Hola Cultura