★ 06/20/2022
Degollado’s vivid linked collection (after the YA novel Throw ) delves into a large Texas family’s rise to prominence and subsequent misfortunes. “La Tierra” sets the stage in 1958, with Papa Tavo and Guadalupe establishing a painting and drywall business and settling in Reynosa. Decades later, in “Turroco,” the irascible Papa Tavo, having tried out a series of nursing homes only to return to their house, claims his neighbor Emiliano Contreras has placed a curse on him and his family by burying a goat’s head in his and Guadalupe’s’ yard. Papa Tavo’s grandson Little Gonzalo narrates, describing Tavo’s insomnia and agitation, which his father, Gonzalo, attributes in part to the jealous Emiliano’s curse. Together at the grandparents’ house, the family lights candles in prayer. In “Mariposa,” Little Gonzalo, now a fifth grader, goes on a beer run with his older cousin Cirilo and later hears his father accuse his mother of flirting with Cirilo, resulting in Little Gonzalo and his mother fleeing for her safety. In “Padres, Hijas,” Papa Tavo and Abuelita celebrate their 35th anniversary at their house, and the receiving line winds around the block. Throughout, Degollado convincingly portrays the family’s mix of faith, superstition, and intergenerational volatility, and immerses the reader into a porous blend of English and Spanish. This is a gem. (Sept.)
"In The Family Izquierdo , every story is a revelation. Rubén Degollado’s storytelling is as rigorous as it is intricate. Intimate and epic, it brims with magic and spirit. A bold, beautiful debut!"
"The Family Izquierdo is filled with the rich complexities of Latinx culture… [Degollado] captures the way people in all families have different versions of the same tale. How we sit around sharing cuentos, whispering chisme, and keeping family histories alive — even if that history is sometimes embellished."
"The novel is constructed as interlinked stories… and each story is powerful and indelible, self-contained yet inescapably part of a whole – like the Izquierdos themselves. Reading this beautiful debut felt like coming home."
Good Morning America.com - Katie Gutierrez
"An intimate, multigenerational narrative of a Mexican family, The Family Izquierdo shines in its depiction of South Texas and how the region has shaped Latinos over time."
Texas Monthly - Best Books Coming to Texas This Fall
"A novel of Tejano plenty blooming among the literary plains of desolation... polyphonic, mixing across borders, expanding with a musicality that only strengthens as it grows."
New York Times Book Review - Kawai Strong Washburn
"Resonant… Peppered with Spanish terms, The Family Izquierdo is a rich intertextual novel that’s embedded within Mexican festivals and traditions. It is a testament to the importance of family and the influence of religion, as well as a poignant tale about personal hopes and dreams."
"This family saga is at its core an exploration of love, forgiveness, loss and faith."
TODAY.com - Lupita Aquino
"With a delicate and perceptive understanding of humanity and the ties which bind community to history, Rubén Degollado has painted a portrait of sincere love in The Family Izquierdo . This book feels like coming home to a warm embrace, where the characters and land leap off the page and into our hearts."
"Rubén Degollado has written an open-hearted work of witness, love, and triumph. We have come far. And this brave novel reminds us of where we have to go. Anyone with a family will find themselves in these pages."
"[An] epic tale… There are trials, yes, but also plenty of love and miracles in this beautiful chronicle of family."
Austin American-Statesman - Best Fall Books to Read
★ 2022-07-13
In 1958, Octavio Izquierdo and his wife, Guadalupe, begin building their life in McAllen, Texas. They buy a home and set up a painting and drywall business while dreaming of the good future their children will have—how these things will be their inheritance. But life isn’t always easy for the family. After discovering a goat hoof and a rooster foot buried in the yard, Octavio believes his jealous neighbor, Emiliano Contreras, has put a curse on the family. Ordinary disasters like miscarriages, accidents, and sadness are attributed to it. Years later, in declining health, Octavio is consumed by his belief in the curse, and he bounces around from nursing home to nursing home because none of the orderlies can keep him calm. His adult children aren’t sure if it really is a curse or a genetic predisposition to anxiety and susto. However, Dina, one of his daughters, refuses to leave her house after having what she believes is a prophetic nightmare showing Emiliano Contreras working with the devil to use grackles to put the evil eye on the Izquierdos. In this gloriously rich epic, we get to see a full picture of the family. Each interlocking chapter is told by a different character, unifying into a thoughtfully crafted history spanning decades. The characters, who are complex and tightly linked to one another, are enlivened by their belief in a mix of superstition, brujería, and Catholicism that feels both familiar and playful. Family celebrations like a Posada, a quinceañera, and the Fourth of July particularly highlight family dynamics. Though most of the stories focus on the Izquierdo family as a whole, there’s one called “La Milagrosa Selena” that is less a story and more a letter to the Diocese of Brownsville that advocates canonizing the queen of Tejano music, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez; it's a surprising delight.
An instant Tejano classic.
