Last Night in Brooklyn

By Xóchitl González

Book Overview

NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2026 BY TIME, OPRAH DAILY, USA TODAY, PEOPLE, ELECTRIC LIT, HARPER'S BAZAAR, VULTURE, LITHUB, BOOK RIOT, PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY, THE BOSTON GLOBE, 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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250372054
• ISBN13: 9781250372055
• Release Date: April 2027
• Publisher: Flatiron Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Xochitl Does It Again

I had this by my nightstand after picking it up on Indie Book day from A Seat at the Table bookstore. I stayed up late getting into the story. The writing pulls you in, makes you want to know more about each character. Alicia is the main character. She is in her twenties, and like most twenty years olds, finding her place in the world. I loved this book. I saw it at the table when I was grabbing books for my grandson to support my local bookstore, then I read the title and saw the author’s name ( I loved her last book) and also saw it was an indie bookstore exclusive edition. Not sure what that meant but bought it even though I have several TBR waiting for me at home. I now want to check out Brooklyn again. I visited in the 1900’s (1999 to be exact.) The story of gentrification and how communities were and are destroyed were underlying issues I got from this. The combination of having come from money on one side of your family and the working class also prevailed. Following the societal norms of go to college, get married, etc., etc. All were apart of Alicia’s story. The beauty of being your own person, learn who you are was another aspect of Alicia that came out later in the story. The characters were well thought out, the friendships, acquaintanceships, family relationships made you feel good and realize that life is always changing. I highly recommend this book. Be ready to binge read and want to have been a Brooklynite.