Deeply compassionate and tender, Melissa Rivero’s new novel paints a striking portrait of the mother-daughter bond with wisdom and empathy. In alternating chapters, we see an immigrant mother and millennial daughter unfold and evolve—with stunning depth. Melissa is a phenomenal talent who combines authenticity and a bold, fresh voice to deliver raw, unforgettable women/characters. Not to be missed!” — Etaf Rum, author of A Woman Is No Man and Evil Eye
“Intimate, elegant, and nuanced, Flores and Miss Paula is as much the story of a vibrant community in flux as it is about the immutability of love and the silences that bind a family. This is an absolute treasure of a novel.” — Patricia Engel, author of Infinite Country
“Melissa Rivero is magnificent. Her vision is clear, her characters are real, and her words are tender and true. In her newest novel, she writes about loyalty, money, loss, and love; she writes about home, the long path to finding it, and all the places we can go only when guided by an author so skilled.” — Julia Phillips, author of Disappearing Earth and Bear
“Heart-rending. . . . This is a treat.” — Publishers Weekly
"Lively . . . . In a novel that is by turns dishy and soulful, Rivero braids depictions of the frivolity and self-seriousness of start-up life with the authentic and connected culture of Peruvian immigrants in New York City." — Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Sensitive. . . . Wryly humorous and often tender, Flores and Miss Paula explores the generational divide between two strong women, the effects of grief, and the possibilities of change.” — Shelf Awareness
“Mother-daughter duo Paula and Mónica Flores spring to life through the distinctive voices that alternately narrate Peruvian American author Melissa Rivero’s sophomore novel. In animated prose, the author tackles grief, second acts in life and the smoke and mirrors of tech startup culture.” — San Francisco Chronicle
“Ultimately, how these women independently navigate their jobs allows them to come together — and when they do, Rivero delivers a pleasingly heartwarming resolution with a useful message about not jumping to conclusions about one’s parents.” — New York Times Book Review
“Emotionally charged. . . . an authentic portrayal of the Latino immigrant experience.” — Los Angeles Times
“Ms. Rivero successfully renders two complicated and nuanced heroines who must contend with their personal struggles while the undercurrents of grief and resentment test their relationship. . . . An unexpected love story: one where two Peruvian women of different generations learn how to love themselves; they learn to give each other grace while they honor their previous life and build a new one together.” — Pittsburgh Post Gazette
“This mother-daughter dramedy sparkles with fresh dialogue and vivid settings.” — People
"Spirited and warm-hearted, Melissa Rivero’s new novel showcases the complexities of the mother-daughter bond with fresh insight and empathy.” — Sunset
“This is a story about love and loss, the meaning of family and the importance of community, passion and what happens when it's misdirected or lost entirely. It's one of those books where the characters quickly feel like friends, then family. You won't be able to put it down.” — Good Housekeeping
“Vibrant and endearing.” — Kirkus Reviews
“This book is for anyone who has ever wanted to try and understand their mother. . . . Mother and daughter are forced to finally confront their past in this deeply beautiful novel about moving forward.” — Lupita Aquino, Today.com
“A fresh, heartfelt exploration of the complicated relationship between a Peruvian immigrant mother and her modern daughter. With themes of loss, love, secrets and aspirations, this is a graceful and touching story.” — Ms. Magazine
“Rivero’s emotional plot explores a fragile mother-daughter relationship influenced by generational and cultural effects. An exciting second outing after Affairs of the Falcons.” — Library Journal
“Heartfelt." — Country Living
“Flores and Miss Paula captures an intricate mother-daughter relationship with warmth and insight.” — Bomb
2023-08-31
In gentrifying Brooklyn, a mother and daughter grapple with the death of their small family's patriarch and the ways his death cause them to reconsider their lives and values.
Three years after the death of 33-year-old Mónica Flores’ father, Martín, Mónica finds a small piece of paper tucked under his urn in the Brooklyn home she shares with her 63-year-old mother, Paula. In Paula’s handwriting, the paper reads: “Forgive me if I failed you. Remember that I always loved you.” This discovery—which Mónica keeps secret, despite her shock at its message—sets up the stilted relationship between mother and daughter and their navigation of grief and regret. Mónica (a.k.a. Flores, the name she adopted at work) is overworked and underappreciated at the Bowl, a tech startup selling “aquatic creations” (a refreshing break from the digital media startups that saturate millennial workplace fiction). Flores’ six-figure debt, as well as the impending end of her lease, weighs heavily on her mind, and she experiences a crisis of conscience when her colleague presents a plot to increase share prices at the expense of their boss’ position. Meanwhile, Paula spends her days working at a local discount store; taking walks with Vicente, a married friend with whom she shares a complicated past; and trying to figure out how she wants to spend “la tercera edad” of her life—years she’d imagined would be spent traveling between New York and Lima with Martín. Each judges the other’s decisions, and the disconnect and grudges they’ve carried since Flores was a little girl, once mediated by Martín, are amplified in his absence. Paula’s narration is the more affecting of the two perspectives; her insights about motherhood, marriage, and how both can feel like traps are simple but profound. Precarity—of identity, money, shelter, relationships, health—is the central tension for both women: How do we muster the strength and hope to move forward despite life’s fragility and disappointments? It’s a question rich enough to stand on its own; unfortunately, it’s crowded by side characters and minor plots. Still, Flores and Paula are so vibrant and endearing that they minimize these narrative frustrations.
An abundance of heart makes up for underdeveloped side plots in this story of life after loss.