Monday, November 3, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Skylight Books, Los Angeles
 **From the Whiting Award-winning author Jaquira Díaz, an epic novel of a mother and daughter wrestling with the aftermath of a murder, set against the backdrop of a tightknit, working-class barrio in Puerto Rico.** When Maricarmen meets Rey el Cantante, beloved small-time Robin Hood and local musician on the rise, she begins to envision a life beyond the tight-knit community of el Caserío, Puerto Rico – beyond cleaning houses, beyond waiting tables, beyond the constant tug of war between the street hustlers and los camarones. But breaking free proves more difficult than she imagined, and she soon finds herself struggling to make a home for herself, for Rey, his young brother Tito, and eventually, their daughter Nena. Until one fateful day changes everything. Fifteen years later, Maricarmen and Nena find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation as the community that once rallied to support Rey turns against them. Now Nena, a teenager haunted by loss and betrayal and exploring her sexual identity, must learn to fight for herself and her family in a world not always welcoming. For lovers of the Neapolitan novels, _This is the Only Kingdom_ is an immersive and moving portrait of a family – and a community – torn apart by generational grief_,_ and a powerful love letter to mothers, daughters, and the barrios that make them. Born in Puerto Rico, **Jaquira Díaz** was raised between Humacao, Fajardo, and Miami Beach. She is the author of _Ordinary Girls: A Memoir_, winner of a Whiting Award, a Florida Book Awards Gold Medal, a Lambda Literary Awards finalist, an American Booksellers Association Indies Introduce Selection, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection, an Indie Next Pick, a Library Reads pick, and finalist for the B&N Discover Prize. The recipient of the Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction, the Alonzo Davis Fellowship from VCCA, two Pushcart Prizes, an Elizabeth George Foundation grant, and fellowships from MacDowell, the _Kenyon Review_, Bread Loaf, Sewanee, the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, and the Black Mountain Institute at UNLV, Díaz has written for _The Atlantic_, _The Guardian_, _Time Magazine_, _T: The New York Times Style Magazine_, _Condé Nast Traveler_, and _The Fader_, and her stories, poems, and essays have been anthologized in _The Best American Essays, The Breakbeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNext,_ _Best American Experimental Writing_, and _The Pushcart Prize_ anthology. In 2022, she held the Mina Hohenberg Darden Chair in Creative Writing at Old Dominion University’s MFA program and a Pabst Endowed Chair for Master Writers at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. She lives in New York and teaches at Columbia University. **Lilliam Rivera** is a MacDowell Fellow and an award-winning author of eight works of fiction: four young adult novels, three middle grade books, and a graphic novel for DC Comics. Her books have been awarded a Pura Belpré honor and featured on NPR and in _The New Yorker,_ the _Los Angeles Times, The New York Times,_ and multiple “best of” lists. Her novel _Never Look Back_ is slated for a movie adaptation. A Bronx, New York, native, Lilliam Rivera currently lives in Los Angeles. _Tiny Threads_ is her adult debut.