Marisel Vera emerges as a major new voice in contemporary fiction with this "capacious" (The New Yorker) novel set in Puerto Rico on the eve of the Spanish-American War. Up in the mountainous region of Utuado, Vicente Vega and Valentina Sanchez labor to keep their coffee farm from the creditors. When the great San Ciriaco hurricane of 1899 brings devastating upheaval, the young couple is lured along with thousands of other puertorriquenos to the sugar plantations of Hawaii, where they are confronted by the hollowness of America's promises of prosperity. Depicting the roots of Puerto Rican alienation and exodus, which resonates especially today, The Taste of Sugar is "a gorgeous feat of storytelling" (Tayari Jones).

Book Information
ISBN 9781631499043
Author Marisel Vera
Format Paperback
Page Count 384
Imprint Liveright Publishing Corporation
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 140g