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Book Overview
COUNTRY OF UNDER, winner of the 1729 Book Prize, revolves around the transformative friendship of Pilar Salom Reinfeld, raised by her undocumented father, a descendent of Bolivian Mennonites, in a Mexican-American community; and Carlos/Carla/R o Gomez, a gender-fluid DREAMer raised by their grandmother in the same Texican bordertown.
After years away, tragedy calls them back to the Rio Grande Valley--their lives changed but still bound. Still mourning, Pilar returns to New York City with R o. As R o finds love and Pilar struggles to find a way forward, they drift apart. When Pilar's decision to engage in a dangerous artivist act finally threatens to tear them apart, they struggle to do what they have done in their best moments: see the beauty in each other, even when the world does not.
"This luminous novel of big heart and span is a wonder. I am changed for having read it. The story has become part of my soul."--Diane Zinna, author of The All-Night Sun
"At its core, COUNTRY OF UNDER is about time: The time it takes to understand oneself, others, the family you have--and the family you make. And, the time it takes to develop the patience to wait, as self-revelation unfolds."--Barbara Fischkin, author of Muddy Cup: A Dominican Family Comes of Age in a New America
"Brooke Shaffner's COUNTRY OF UNDER is a novel about the pain and wonder of being between identities. Between male and female. Citizen and immigrant. Fulfilled and empty. Outsider and insider. A novel of our time, told with deep compassion and striking beauty."--Helen Benedict, author of The Good Deed and Wolf Season
Fiction. Family & Relationships. Latinx Studies. LGBTQ+ Studies.
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