Xochitl Gonzalez

It's 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro “Prieto” Acevedo, are boldfaced names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn, while Olga is the tony wedding planner for Manhattan’s power brokers.

Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy. Sure, Olga can orchestrate the love stories of the 1 percent but she can’t seem to find her own. . . until she meets Matteo, who forces her to confront the effects of long-held family secrets.

Olga and Prieto’s mother, Blanca, a Young Lord turned radical, abandoned her children to advance a militant political cause, leaving them to be raised by their grandmother. Now, with the winds of hurricane season, Blanca has come barreling back into their lives.

Set against the backdrop of New York City in the months surrounding the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico’s history, Xochitl Gonzalez’s Olga Dies Dreaming is a story that examines political corruption, familial strife, and the very notion of the American dream―all while asking what it really means to weather a storm.

Olga Dies Dreaming

New York Times bestselling author Xochitl Gonzalez delivers a mesmerizing novel about a first-generation Ivy League student who uncovers the genius work of a female artist decades after her suspicious death Who gets to leave a legacy? 1985. Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world, is found dead in New York City; her tragic death is the talk of the town. Until it isn’t. By 1998 Anita’s name has been all but forgotten—certainly by the time Raquel, a third-year art history student is preparing her final thesis. On College Hill, surrounded by progeny of film producers, C-Suite executives, and international art-dealers, most of whom float through life knowing that their futures are secured, Raquel feels herself an outsider. Students of color, like Raquel, are the minority there, and the pressure to work twice as hard for the same opportunities is no secret. But when Raquel becomes romantically involved with a well-connected older art student, she finds herself unexpectedly rising up the social ranks. As she attempts to straddle both worlds, she stumbles upon Anita’s story, raising questions about the dynamics of her own relationship, which eerily mirrors that of the forgotten artist. Moving back and forth through time and told from the perspectives of both women, Anita de Monte Laughs Last, is a propulsive, witty examination of power, love, and art, daring to ask who gets to be remembered and who is left behind in the rarefied world of the elite.

A Novel

Anita de Monte Laughs Last

NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller • INTERNATIONAL LATINO BOOK AWARD FINALIST • A blazing talent debuts with the tale of a status-driven wedding planner grappling with her social ambitions, absent mother, and Puerto Rican roots—all in the wake of Hurricane Maria ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: TIME, NPR, Vogue, Esquire, Book Riot, Goodreads, EW, Reader's Digest, and more! "Don’t underestimate this new novelist. She’s jump-starting the year with a smart romantic comedy that lures us in with laughter and keeps us hooked with a fantastically engaging story." —The Washington Post It's 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro “Prieto” Acevedo, are boldfaced names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn, while Olga is the tony wedding planner for Manhattan’s power brokers. Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy. Sure, Olga can orchestrate the love stories of the 1 percent but she can’t seem to find her own. . . until she meets Matteo, who forces her to confront the effects of long-held family secrets. Olga and Prieto’s mother, Blanca, a Young Lord turned radical, abandoned her children to advance a militant political cause, leaving them to be raised by their grandmother. Now, with the winds of hurricane season, Blanca has come barreling back into their lives. Set against the backdrop of New York City in the months surrounding the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico’s history, Xochitl Gonzalez’s Olga Dies Dreaming is a story that examines political corruption, familial strife, and the very notion of the American dream—all while asking what it really means to weather a storm.

A blazing talent debuts with the tale of a status-driven wedding planner grappling with her social ambitions, absent mother, and Puerto Rican roots, allin the wake of Hurricane Maria It's 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro Prieto" Acevedo, are bold-faced names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn while Olga is the tony wedding planner for Manhattan's powerbrokers. Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy. Sure, Olga can orchestrate the love stories of the 1%, but she can't seem to find her own. . . until she meets Matteo, who forces her to confront the effects of long-held family secrets. . . Twenty-seven years ago, their mother, Blanca, a Young Lord-turned-radical, abandoned her children to advance a militant political cause, leaving them to be raised by their grandmother. Now, with the winds of hurricane season, Blanca has come barreling back into their lives. Set against the backdrop of New York City in the months surrounding the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico's history, Xochitl Gonzalez's Olga Dies Dreaming is a story that examines political corruption, familial strife and the very notion of the American dream - all while asking what it really means to weather a storm.

New York Times-bestselling author Xochitl Gonzalez delivers a captivating story about a young woman whose life becomes ensnared in her glamorous neighbour's secret past

Last Night in Brooklyn

NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2026 BY TIME, OPRAH DAILY, USA TODAY, PEOPLE, ELECTRIC LIT, HARPER'S BAZAAR, LITHUB, BOOK RIOT, PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY, TOWN & COUNTRY, SHE READS, LIBRARY JOURNAL, AND MORE! New York Times bestselling author Xochitl Gonzalez delivers a captivating story about a young woman whose life becomes ensnared in her glamorous neighbor’s secret past SPRING, 2007 At twenty-six, Alicia Canales Forten feels smothered by her future. She’s in a long-distance relationship, living at home with her mother’s beliefs, saving up for her wedding to a future doctor. But after Alicia ventures out one night in the neighborhood of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, she finds herself lured by the siren song of youth and possibility that the striving crowd of creatives holds, and moves in. No one embodies this milieu more than La Garza, a larger-than-life, up-and-coming fashion designer whose epic house parties fuel neighborhood lore. La Garza’s life, observed by Alicia from her apartment across the street, seems to hold the allure and fearlessness Alicia has never dared to imagine for herself. But when Alicia’s wealthy banker cousin moves to the neighborhood, she finds herself increasingly drawn into both his and La Garza’s precarious lives. Against the backdrop of a potentially life-changing presidential election and a looming once-in-a-generation fiscal crisis, Last Night in Brooklyn explores the dark compromise of the American Dream for people of color living, unknowingly, in the twilight of a cultural moment. It is a story about everything money can buy—and the destruction of what it can’t.

THE REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK FOR MARCH 2024 'I have goosebumps just talking about this story' REESE WITHERSPOON 'Smart, funny - and furious' MARIE CLAIRE 'Genre-busting ... A clear-eyed deconstruction of skewed value systems' FINANCIAL TIMES It's 1985 and Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world, is found dead in New York City. Thirteen years later, art history student Raquel is preparing her final thesis, feeling the pressure to work twice as hard for the same opportunities as the wealthy students around her. Anita's name - and the mysterious circumstances around her death - has all but faded from view. When Raquel becomes romantically involved with a well-connected older student, she finds herself unexpectedly rising up the social ranks. But then she stumbles upon Anita's story, and is struck not only by the question of who gets to leave a legacy, but by how her own relationship eerily mirrors that of the forgotten artist . . . * A NEW YORK TIMES, ELLE AND GOOD HOUSEKEEPING HIGHLIGHT FOR 2024 *

A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick

New York Times bestselling author Xochitl Gonzalez delivers a mesmerizing novel about a first-generation Ivy League student who uncovers the genius work of a female artist decades after her suspicious death Who gets to leave a legacy? 1985. Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world, is found dead in New York City; her tragic death is the talk of the town. Until it isn't. By 1998 Anita's name has been all but forgotten--certainly by the time Raquel, a third-year art history student is preparing her final thesis. On College Hill, surrounded by progeny of film producers, C-Suite executives, and international art-dealers, most of whom float through life knowing that their futures are secured, Raquel feels herself an outsider. Students of color, like Raquel, are the minority there, and the pressure to work twice as hard for the same opportunities is no secret. But when Raquel becomes romantically involved with a well-connected older art student, she finds herself unexpectedly rising up the social ranks. As she attempts to straddle both worlds, she stumbles upon Anita's story, raising questions about the dynamics of her own relationship, which eerily mirrors that of the forgotten artist. Moving back and forth through time and told from the perspectives of both women, Anita de Monte Laughs Last is a propulsive, witty examination of power, love, and art, daring to ask who gets to be remembered and who is left behind in the rarefied world of the elite.

«Contundente y hermosa... Anita de Monte ríe la última clama por justicia. Escribiendo con urgencia y rabia, González habla en nombre de quienes han sido marginados, considerados indignos y despojados de su legado». --The Washington Post Cuando Anita de Monte, una estrella emergente en el mundo del arte, muere trágicamente en Nueva York en 1985, su historia queda oscurecida por el legado de su marido, Jack Martin, un reconocido y poderoso artista. Trece años después, Raquel, una estudiante puertorriqueña de Historia del Arte en una universidad de la Ivy League, que lucha por encontrar su lugar, descubre la historia de Anita mientras investiga sobre Jack Martin para su tesis. Cuando comienza una relación con un estudiante mayor que ella con buenas conexiones, Raquel experimenta lo que significa subir de estatus social, y la inquietante historia de Anita de Monte la lleva a cuestionarse su propia vida y cómo su relación es un reflejo de la de la artista. Alternando entre el pasado y el presente, y narrada desde la perspectiva de ambas mujeres, Anita de Monte ríe la última es una fascinante novela sobre el poder, el amor y el arte, que se pregunta quién merece ser recordado --y quiénes son olvidados-- en el exclusivo mundo de las élites. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION "Powerful and beautiful... Anita de Monte Laughs Last is a cry for justice. Writing with urgency and rage, González speaks for those who have been marginalized, deemed unworthy, and stripped of their legacy." --The Washington Post In 1985, Anita de Monte -- a rising star in the art world -- dies tragically in New York. But instead of her life being celebrated, her story is eclipsed by the legacy of her husband, Jack Martin, a powerful and acclaimed artist. Thirteen years later, Raquel, a Puerto Rican art history student at an Ivy League university, is struggling to find her place. While researching Jack Martin for her thesis, she stumbles upon the forgotten life of Anita. As Raquel begins a relationship with an older, well-connected student, she experiences the thrill -- and the discomfort -- of social ascent. Anita's haunting story forces her to question her own path, and whether history is repeating itself. Told in alternating timelines from both women's perspectives, Anita de Monte Laughs Last is a gripping novel about power, love, and art -- asking who gets remembered, and who gets left behind in the rarefied world of the elite.

Xochitl Gonzalez

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