MAYRA BY NICKY GONZALEZ

An eerie, hypnotic debut about friendship, desire, and memory set against the sultry backdrop of Floridas swamplands.

A mesmerizing, hallucinatory adrenaline rush of a novel.Claire Luchette, author ofAgatha of Little Neon

LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE

Its been years since Ingrid has heard from her childhood best friend, Mayra, a fearless rebel who fled their hometown of Hialeah, a Cuban neighborhood just west of Miami, for college in the Northeast. But when Mayra calls out of the blue to invite Ingrid to a weekend getaway at a house in the Everglades, she impulsively accepts.

From the moment Ingrid sets out, danger looms: The directions are difficult, shes out of reach of cell service, and as she drives deeper into the Everglades, the wet maw of the swamp threatens to swallow her whole. But once Ingrid arrives, Mayra is, in many ways, just as she rememberswith her sharp tongue and effortless, seductive beauty, still thumbing her nose at the world.

Before they can fully settle into the familiar intimacy of each others company, their reunion is spoiled by the reemergence of past disagreements and the unexpected presence of Mayras new boyfriend, Benji. The trio spend their hours eating lavish meals and exploring the labyrinthine house, which holds as much mystery as the swamp itself. Indoors and on the grounds, time itself seems to expand, and Ingrid begins to lose a sense of the outside world, and herself.

Against this disquieting setting, where lizards dart in and out of porches and alligators peek from dark waters, Gonzalez weaves a surreal, unforgettable story about the dizzying power of early friendship and the lengths well go to earn love and acceptanceeven at the risk of losing ourselves entirely.

HARDBACK BOOK