I read this at a very interesting time. Seeing the first generational family drama as the world in changing around the main character was pretty gripping.

3.5 stars rounded up

This was a novel that grabbed my interest pretty early on, although I was initially confused by the words in the middle of the chapter. I think they were subheadings, but they didn't always highlight what I thought the section was about, so I'm not sure if they needed to be there. The story centers around a Dominican neighborhood in New York City, whose presence may be threatened by gentrification, as many of the poor residents may be pushed out or bought out to make way for high-priced condos. Specifically, the story highlights one family, Eusebia and Vladimir de Guerrero, and their daughter Luz. There is also a "Greek chorus" made up of three gossiping ladies in the neighborhood. The story is told alternately from Eusebia's and Luz' points of view, which mostly works, although I would have liked to hear more from Vladimir, although this may have been deliberate on the author's part to focus on the women's voices. While both points of view were important to the story, I found myself increasingly disturbed by what was going on with Eusebia and there were times when I thought I was dealing with a magical realism situation. Overall, I thought the author did a good job keeping us on our toes about what was going to happen next. Without revealing any spoilers, each woman had their own journey to take and I feel satisfied with what ended up happening with each of them. I did have to reread the end couple of times just to understand it, but it definitely made sense and worked with all that Eusebia had gone through. This was not a fast-paced story, but there was something about it that got into your skin and made you want to keep on reading. While I think a bit of editing (maybe remove the inner subheadings?) and maybe adding a glossary to the end for non-Spanish speaking readers (I was able to figure out most of it from context) would tighten up the story overall, I would definitely be interested in reading more from this author in the future.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

There is so much to love in Neruda on the Park, a debut novel by Dominican author Cleyvis Natera. The story focuses on members of a Dominican family in New York City who are facing the gentrification of their neighborhood. Primarily it’s a mother/daughter story, but it’s also about family, friendship, love and community. The story is a serious one, but it’s told in a vibrant and often humorous way. Natera really captures the vibrancy and exuberance of the Dominican culture. It’s beautifully written and when it ended I felt like I saw myself and my own Dominican family in the characters. This would make a great book club pick!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC.

“Neruda on the Park” is a beautifully written book that has stayed with me for a long while after reading it. Cleyvis Natera has written a story that brings to life the trials and tribulations of gentrification, immigration, familial love, and self-love.

In “Neruda on the Park” an adult daughter, Luz, navigates the turmoil around her whilst trying to find a way to make her mark in a fast-paced work environment, find romance, and to stay true to her family. Eusebia, Luz’s mother, meanwhile, is a leader to her community and family, who won’t let anyone or anything get in the way of her newfound home.

Natera has written an exceptionally gorgeous and heartfelt novel that I recommend everyone reads at least once.

Amazing debut novel by Cleyvis Natera, Neruda in the Park is one of my 2022 favorites. The Guerrero’s family moved from the Dominican Republic twenty years ago and settled into a Dominican neighborhood. Gentrification has started in the neighborhood and an apartment building close to them is being torn down to make a place for some upscale apartments. I love how Natera focused on one Dominican family The story is told mostly through the eyes of the mother and daughter, Eusebia, a traditional mother makes breakfast for her adult daughter and husband, makes sure the house runs smoothly and is a well-known member of the community. The daughter, Luz, has been a lawyer for a Manhattan firm for five years. Expecting a promotion she finds out she is being terminated. The father, Vladimir is a policeman (close to retirement) who is having a dream home built in the DR for his wife. At times, I felt like I was sitting in this family’s living room watching this story unfold. I especially enjoyed the chapters where the “Tongues,” a group of neighborhood gossips who give their point of view about what is happening in the neighborhood. Eusebia becomes a leader in trying to stop the destruction of the apartment building close to their building.

I had a hard time putting this book down once I started. I look forward to reading future books by Clovis Natera! My thanks to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.

Thanks for the ARC Ballantine Books & Netgalley. This gave me "Olga Dies Dreaming" vibes, but I think I liked that book better than this. I liked the story, but didn't love it. I kept losing steam on the story. For a debut it was a great one and I am sure I will enjoy future reads from the author. This one just wasn't my favorite.

Magical realism meets contemporary US urban conflict in this novel about a neighborhood’s reaction to coming gentrification.

When gentrification comes to Nothar Park, the wake of the wrecking ball leads to different reactions among the predominantly Dominican neighborhood population. The novel centers on a mother and daughter with occasional interludes from the Tongues, the self-appointed neighborhood watch and protectors.

👩🏽 Eusebia, the mother, is staunchly against seeing her neighborhood change and her community pushed out of the city. She has dedicated her life to caring for her family and neighbors. To her, the winds of change feel personal. Yet, her husband is a police detective who yearns to go home to the Dominican Republic.

👩🏾‍🦱 Luz, Eusebia’s daughter, is a Harvard undergrad with a law degree from Columbia. Her education insulates her and she’s convinced she can find her way, even as the neighborhood of Nothar Park changes. Yet, she sees how scared her family and friends are at the change that’s coming, leaving her conflicted.

👵🏽👵🏼👵🏽 The Tongues are concerned, but largely passive to the change they see coming all around them. Even after hearing Eusebia’s action plan, they question what they can do to stop what’s coming.

🤩 Review: Wow, this book has so much depth and is incredibly well written. The story is interesting from the start and it just grows more complex in the telling. This would make an *excellent* book club pick. Please let me know if you’ve read this—I’m eager to discuss!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5/5)

NERUDA ON THE PARK is out now! Thanks to @NetGalley and Ballantine Books @PenguinRandomHouse for the ARC of this gem.

I was excited to read this book. I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the characters and their surroundings-I felt like I was with them at times. That being said, the story line involving the gentrification of the protagonists’ neighborhood was so unrealistic and actually kind of silly. That storyline took away from or took the place of a story line that could be strong and a bit more sound. Accordingly, this is a 3.5 star book, rated down to 3 stars because of the lack of one of the storyline’s interest factor. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the copy for review.

Cleyvis Natera opens her new novel Neruda on the Park with the demolition of a long-abandoned building and simultaneous cleaning up of the neighborhood park. This sounds like good news, right?

Not to the Dominican residents in Nothar Park, whose rental apartments are about to be converted into condos and who will be forced to vacate or to come up with money to buy. Lont-time resident Eusebia de Guerrero determines to stop the gentrification. Looking for support, she turns to the “Tongues,” three gossipy elderly sisters. Together they create an unusual action list to scare off future buyers.

Eusebia’s daughter Luz has a mind of her own. Having arrived in the U.S. at eight and still living with her parents, Luz has been brought up to believe herself responsible for fulfilling her parents’ American Dream. Given every encouragement and opportunity by her dotting mami and papi, Luz has graduated from Harvard Law School and anticipates a promotion to junior partner that very day. She believes she’s on the verge of fulfilling that dream by showing her parents she can afford a large, expensive place of her own in Central Park West, the best of clothes, and a walk-in closet for her shoes like Raenna’s, her law firm mentor. Not bothered by demolition in her neighborhood, Luz thinks only of her bright future.

Meanwhile, Eusebia’s husband/Luz’s father, a police detective nearing retirement, leaves town in search of the person who drove a truckload of immigrants cross country to NYC, leaving many of them dead in the locked truck, suffocated by lack of oxygen. Luz and her father share a secret, a surprise for Eusebia.

Walking into a yoga class, Luz finds herself paired with another Harvard graduate slightly older than she. Little does Luz realize the identity of this handsome stranger. Will this meeting impact the women’s plans?

With Eusebia determined to halt gentrification, Luz determined to climb the socio-economic ladder, and things not always going as the women hope, Cleyvis Natera gives us a complex and engaging look at issues facing urban communities today.

Natera cleverly arranges the novel into three parts: “Demolition,” “Excavation,” and “Grounding,” each part playing dual roles in the story. Chapters alternating between mother and daughter make up the three parts, but with occasional brief interludes focused on the Tongues.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballentine/Random House for an advance reader copy of this highly recommended new novel. I look forward to future work by this Dominican American author, who arrived in the U.S. not much older than Luz.

Neruda on the Park is one of those books that you continue to think about long after you finish the story. Told through the point of view of Eusebia and her daughter Luz, this novel explores the gentrification of a Dominican neighborhood called Nothar Park. This novel also discusses the pressure of being a woman of color in a professional setting and the expectations associated with that. The setting of Nothar Park is a character in this novel and the author did a great job giving insight into the unique rythmn of the neighborhood and the residents.
Thank you to Random House Publishing/Ballantine Books for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

"Neruda on the Park" takes place in New York City, highlighting a Dominican family who have divergent reactions when gentrification creeps into their neighborhood. Eusebio has been living in Nothar Park for 20+ years with her husband Vladimir and daughter Luz, a rising successful lawyer who she is so proud of and has a very close relationship with. There are a couple of inciting incidents that propel the book forward. Demolition begins in an abandoned tenement building in the neighborhood and Eusebio can predict what is coming for her and her neighbors. Vladimir has been preparing for retirement and for Eusebio and him to move back to the Dominican Republic to live out their golden years. Luz gets unexpected news about her job that sets off an unexpected life change for her, and she also meets Hudson, a rich white man, whose company is involved in the new construction project in her neighborhood. When first reading the book, Luz reminded me of the main character of Olga in "Olga Dies Dreaming"- a successful Latina in the eyes of her community but who questions her purpose in life. Eusebio enlists the neighborhood women to try and make the neighborhood less appealing for developers through questionable means. Eusebio and Luz, once very codependent on each other drift apart as Eusebio becomes unhealthily obsessed with her neighborhood schemes and Luz becomes drawn into an intense, propulsive relationship with Hudson.

This is an impressive debut novel- Natera draws the reader into the neighborhood drama as the demolition progresses and relationships fray. I found Eusebio to be a particularly compelling character, with a complex history and explanation for her actions. I did not find Luz to be as fleshed out, and her relationship with Hudson always appeared uneasy to me and did not get the attraction, and it sort of lost me towards the end. But overall, this is a compelling book that I think a lot of readers will enjoy.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group (Ballantine Books) via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

Wow, I really, really loved Neruda on the Park. I finished it last night and have not been able to stop thinking about this story, or these characters. They made such a lasting impact on me and I specially loved the ending!!

The story alternates back and forth between Luz and her mother, Eusebia. Luz is a hot shot lawyer. Nothing is more important to her than her job and impressing her peers. When Luz randomly gets fired from her job, her life as she knows it begins to unravel. The time off while she seeks another job, gives her time to rethink what is important and realize she may need more of a work life balance. Eusebia is a mother and nothing means more to her than taking care of her family. She cooks meals for Luz and her husband every day and she does not even eat herself until her family is finished eating. As her neighborhood is getting demolished to be replaced with luxury condos and all of her friends will be displaced and out of homes, Eusebia realizes these people are her family as well. Again, there is absolutely NOTHING Eusebia will not do for her family. In order to try and stop the luxury condo builders, Eusebia plots and sets up petty crimes to make the neighborhood appear undesirable. But will Eusebia take it too far? Will Luz and Eusebia’s relationship become too strained?

There were parts of this book that sang to my soul. The sense of community and continuity are things we should all be so lucky to have in our neighborhoods. And when this security is threatened by gentrification, the neighborhood fights back. While this provided the backbone for the run of the story, all the other situations provided the meat. There was mental illness, drug abuse, glass ceiling, feminism, family secrets, BLM, the need for independence, etc. All combined this made for a read that almost felt like a 360-surround play that the reader was immersed in. I actually caught my breath at one point thinking perhaps the story was going to mirror a favorite opera of mine and crossed my fingers hoping it wouldn't. Even the chorus provided by the old ladies in the neighborhood, The Tongues, added a layer to the relaying of the history, present, and future of the neighborhood. This is a beautiful story filled with memorable characters!

NERUDA ON THE PARK is like no other book I have read. Poetic and lyrical, this story of a mother and daughter, caught between countries and cultures, is breathtaking, heart wrenching prose. Eusebia is an ultimate matriarch, joining her husband Vladimir in the United States after years apart with her living in their Dominican Republic home with their daughter Luz and he a police officer in New York City. Luz is the ultimate in young women living between two cultures -- her Dominican heritage and the neighborhood she loves with the life she has created with education and a professional career with adoring, rich partner. The struggle between two powerful, passionate women erupts as Eusebia becomes impassioned activist for their neighborhood and daughter struggles between her past and her future. In the end, they accomplish meaningful change through no fault or credit to themselves alone. The story was an intoxicating blend of hard reality and magical realism, as immersive and perplexing and wonderful a tale between two people, two cultures, myriad possibilities. I received an early copy of this novel and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

A family drama with commentary on gentrification. Luz who has been the light of her mother Eusebia and her father Vladimir's life has just been fired from her job at a Manhattan law firm. And to add to the family's woes, a developer is circling their neighborhood, dividing the family about whether to take a payout. And then Luz meets Hudson, the wealthy white man who is the subject of her mother's ire and well, all bets are off. Eusebia has a plot to keep Hudson away but Vladimir, well, he sees a use for the money namely building their retirement home back in the DR. The Tongues- a group of gossips- provide a sort of commentary on all of it (I enjoyed their perspective). Natera has a nice way with words and makes her characters feel real. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. It's a good read.

Luz thinks her boss is about to confide that she's going to be made partner when she asks her to meet before work. Turns out Luz is about to be let go from the law firm. Luz is stunned--she's always been a high achiever, eager to please her Dominican-immigrant parents. Her father, Vladimir, is consumed by the murder of a young boy from their neighborhood, while her mother, Eusebia, is equally consumed by the demolition and seemingly imminent gentrification of their neighborhood.

While Luz decides her next step, she embarks on a relationship with the very hot, but very white, Hudson, who coincidentally is the developer behind the changes in the neighborhood.

As the summer heats up, so does conflict in the Dominican neighborhood and Luz is pulled in too many directions.

An absorbing novel about intergenerational, interethnic conflict. #NerudaonthePark #NetGalley

I like how delicate this story is constructed. The story is told in multiple points of views, but mostly focused on either the mother (Eusebia) or the daughter (Luz), Dominican Republic immigrants that live in Nothar Park, an area in New York full of other DR immigrants.
Luz got it all - went to law school, got the perfect job, lives with her parents at Nothar Park. But then things gets a little bit out of control when she suddenly loses her job and has to start over. Meanwhile, Eusebia is not happy with the gentrification of their neighborhood, with new buildings being constructed and at the same time their landlord offering a buyout to their lease, She doesn't want to leave the place she has called home for several years.
And it is with this two intertwined stories that you learn about life and struggles and what really matters at the end of the day.

My dad told me once that there’s a moment in a parent-child relationship where there’s a shift — the child thinks they’re grown up sooner than they are, and the parent thinks the child is grown up later than they are. (Not that I would have any experience with this conflict whatsoever.) While this book by Clyevis Natera is about many things, at the core of it is the story of a mother, Eusebia, and her daughter, Luz, whose relationship comes to a head when a white developer begins to gentrify their neighborhood.

Both Eusebia and Luz’s identities are so tied up in each other — as Luz’s mom, as Eusebia’s daughter — that neither of them has had much time to really process who they are individually and what it is they want for themselves. Eusebia has put immense pressure on Luz academically and is encouraging her to go work for a high-paying law firm. Luz is helping pay for a home in the Dominican Republic her father is building that he and Eusebia can retire to and enjoy. Meanwhile, Luz wants a work-life balance, and Eusebia doesn’t want to leave the United States. When the nearby construction begins, the noise and the summer heat create a building sense of pressure, and the two realize what they want for themselves versus what the other wants for them are two different things. It’s almost an interesting coming-of-age story at not coming-of-age ages — Luz is 29, and Eusebia is probably in her 50s. But, for the first time, they’re putting themselves first… even if they have dueling new awarenesses and purposes.

Eusebia is a hard character, because, for so much of her life, she’s acquiesced to what others want, but now, after a shift in her mental state and beliefs, she’s determined to do whatever it takes to save her neighborhood (and the people in it) from these developers — no matter how awful and dangerous the steps she has to take to do it are. She’s been so good for so long, and she’s snapped. Her actions, while they started in a good place, are rash and careless, trying to save her “home,” no matter the cost and no matter who gets hurt along the way (and people do get hurt along the way). She becomes manic and loses all grasp of reality, but she’s still grounded in the idea of helping people who really do need the help.

Natera is an incredible writer, especially with how she plays with contrasts; for example, everyone in the book has a different idea of home — the Dominican Republic for the father, Nothar Park for the mother, and somewhere in between and people-based for Luz. The neighborhood where the characters live, Nothar Park, is often described in colorful terms that enliven the brown buildings, almost as a giant middle finger to the coming white gentrification. Natera’s writing style and description is masterful, too. The way Natera writes her characters makes you feel incredibly connected to them — you know their morning routines, how they like their eggs, what their hair looks like in the morning. Natera also introduces an almost Greek chorus with “the Tongues,” a group of three women who have lived in the area for what feels like forever. (I actually wish there had been more from them, because I found their addition so refreshing.)

The book moves quite slowly, and while I wonder if that was almost Natera’s intention — to have the reader feeling this immense pressure building to an eruption just as it happens in the book — the slow speed made it a little hard to get through. And I’m not quite sure how I feel about the ending. It left me a little unsatisfied, but, again, maybe that’s the point? Maybe not everything, especially with complicated matters and beliefs like these, can be wrapped up neatly and nicely, because there’s nothing nice and neat about gentrification and the constant fight by immigrants to find their place in a country that tells them to leave. I do wish there had been a little more closure with Eusebia and her story, just because we spend so much time learning about her motivations and desires that it would have been nice to get more of a sense of what was next for her with this renewed sense of self.

The idea of what “home” is will never not be a fascinating topic to me — is it a place? A feeling? A memory? A person? — and Natera has done an incredible job of combining that idea into a story where the immigrant and first-generation experience is the focus. This book is a fascinating exploration of self and home — and whether the two are intertwined — through interesting characters and their generational conflict.

Special thanks to NetGalley, Random House/Ballantine, and Cleyvis Natera for proving me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was complex and richly written. I enjoyed reading this, though it felt a little confusing at times (especially towards the end) where it felt like some things were going over my head. Definitely would be interested in reading more by this author. I could tell through the writing that this was a work the author was very passionate about.

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House-Ballantine, and Cleyvis Natera for an ARC of this book!**

"The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned."-Maya Angelou

For over twenty years, the Guerrero family has been able to live in such comfort, in their tiny corner of NYC known as Northar Park. Far from life in the Dominican Republic, mother Eusebia chatters with the Tongues (otherwise known as the old local gossips), while her daughter Lux seems to be on the path to legal superstardom. Lux is taken by surprise one day when she learns that not only has she lost her position at the law firm, but the neighborhood is about to experience a BIG change that will topple life as her family knows it: a new condominium complex is set to tear apart the culture their community holds dear.

Eusebia is up at arms, hatching an elaborate scheme to convince the developers that they've made a terrible mistake...meanwhile, Lux becomes entangled with handsome developer Hudson...who is part of the very team set to upend Northar Park. Lux's father Vladimir is all too willing to take the generous payout offered by the developers...but where does that leave Eusebia? Will Lux's heart lead her away from her roots and into Hudson's arms for the LONG term? Will Eusebia's devious plan actually work? Or will love and life collide in a way no member of the Guerrero family could see coming...and force them to define what home means in a completely new way?

I'm very glad I didn't let the mention of Pablo Neruda and a certain not-so-favorite former poetry professor of mine deter me from reading this book! What led me to put those personal qualms aside, apart from the gorgeous cover, was the fact that the description of this book mentioned gentrification, and for a while now I've wanted to get more of an inside look on how it REALLY affects communities. I know this is fiction, but I had the sense it would be firmly rooted in reality, and I feel Naytera did an admirable job.

However, while I was expecting gentrification to be the focus and it certainly drove the plot in some respects, Neruda in the Park reads more as a family drama juxtaposed neatly against a romance than anything else. This is okay: in fact, since these characters are fully developed, it works. While I might have preferred a more big-picture look at some of these issues, I didn't mind the plot's twists and turns and ebbs and flows. I must admit, however, that I was FAR more engaged in Lux's storyline than Eusebia's, unfortunately. Eusebia is a bit of an oddball character to begin with, and she becomes more difficult to follow as the book goes along. I did expect to connect to her as a mother at some point in the book, but it didn't really happen.

The Tongues also narrate some chapters, and while I didn't necessarily mind that as a device, I also could have lived without it. I either wanted to know more about these ladies, or they could have simply functioned as background characters. I also felt a huge void not hearing more from Vladimir. We get glimpses into his perspective, but I honestly think some chapters narrated by him would have been interesting and helpful, and perhaps a little more substantive and emotional than the 'commentary' provided by the Tongues.

While this book didn't take the deep dive into gentrification I was expecting, Naytera's writing was smooth and interesting, her narrative unique and heartfelt, After working on this book for fifteen years (!) I hope she won't take QUITE as long with the next one!

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4