A âsparkling accountâ (Publishers Weekly) of the uproarious adventures that befall the Palacio family during their disastrous illegal residence in Trinidad that poignantly captures the complexities of dysfunctional families and passionate (but sometimes messy) romance.
After fleeing crumbling, volatile Venezuela, Yola Palacio wants nothing more than to settle into a peaceful new life in Trinidad with her family. And who cares if theyâre there illegallyâarenât most of the people on the island? But life for the Palacios is far from quietâand when Yolaâs Aunt Celia dies, the family once again finds their lives turned upside down. For Celia had been keeping a very big secretâshe owed a LOT of money to a local criminal named Ugly. And without the funds to pay him off, Ugly has the entire family do his bidding until Celiaâs debt is settled. What Ugly says, the Palacios do, otherwise the consequences are too dreadful to imagine.
To say that the year that follows is tumultuous for the Palacios is an understatement. But in the midst of the turmoil appears RomanâUglyâs distractingly gorgeous right-hand man. And although she knows itâs terrible and quite possibly dangerous, Yola just canât help but give in to the attraction. Where, though, do Romanâs loyalties lie? And could this wildly inappropriate romance just be the antidote to a terrible year of Ugly?
Combining the spark of Imbolo Mbue with the irresistible wit of Maria Semple, One Year of Ugly is âa delightfully fun, enormously fresh debutâ (Bookreporter) that brilliantly explores cross-cultural struggles and assimilation from a unique immigrant perspective and introduces us to an extraordinary new voice in contemporary fiction.