Afterlife

A Time Magazine Must-Read Book of 2020
A Most-Anticipated Book of the Year: O, The Oprah Magazine * The New York Times * The Washington Post *Vogue * Bustle * BuzzFeed * Ms. magazine *The Millions * Huffington Post * PopSugar * The Lily *Goodreads * Library Journal * LitHub * Electric Literature

The first adult novel in almost fifteen years by the internationally bestselling author of In the Time of the Butterflies and How the Garca Girls Lost Their Accents

';A stunning work of art that reminds readers Alvarez is, and always has been, in a class of her own.' Elizabeth Acevedo, National Book Award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller The Poet X

Antonia Vega, the immigrant writer atthe center ofAfterlife, has had the rugpulled out from under her. She has justretired from the college where she taught Englishwhen her beloved husband, Sam, suddenly dies.And then more jolts: her bighearted but unstablesister disappears, and Antonia returns home one evening to find a pregnant, undocumentedteenager on her doorstep. Antonia has alwayssought direction in the literature she loveslinesfrom her favorite authors play in her head likea soundtrackbut now she finds that the worlddemands more of her than words.

Afterlifeis a compact, nimble, and sharplydroll novel. Set in this political moment of tribalismand distrust, it asks: What do we owe those incrisis in our families, includingmaybe especiallymembers of our human family? How do welive in a broken world without losing faith in oneanother or ourselves? And how do we stay trueto those glorious souls we have lost?

A Time Magazine Must-Read Book of 2020
A Most-Anticipated Book of the Year: O, The Oprah Magazine * The New York Times * The Washington Post *Vogue * Bustle * BuzzFeed * Ms. magazine * The Millions * Huffington Post * PopSugar * The Lily * Goodreads * Library Journal * LitHub * Electric Literature

“The In the Time of the Butterflies icon makes a satisfying and long-awaited return to adult fiction with this kind tale of grief and sisterhood. …deeply poignant." —Entertainment Weekly

“A gorgeously intimate portrait of an immigrant writer and recent widow carving out hope in the face of personal and political grief.”
—O, The Oprah Magazine

“A stunning work of art that reminds readers Alvarez is, and always has been, in a class of her own.” —Elizabeth Acevedo, National Book Award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller The Poet X

Antonia Vega, the immigrant writer at the center of Afterlife, has had the rug pulled out from under her. She has just retired from the college where she taught English when her beloved husband, Sam, suddenly dies. And then more jolts: her bighearted but unstable sister disappears, and Antonia returns home one evening to find a pregnant, undocumented teenager on her doorstep. Antonia has always sought direction in the literature she loves—lines from her favorite authors play in her head like a soundtrack—but now she finds that the world demands more of her than words.

Afterlife is a compact, nimble, and sharply droll novel. Set in this political moment of tribalism and distrust, it asks: What do we owe those in crisis in our families, including—maybe especially—members of our human family? How do we live in a broken world without losing faith in one another or ourselves? And how do we stay true to those glorious souls we have lost?