In 1975, Maricarmen is 16 years old and living in the Caserio Padre Rivera, a housing project in Humacao, Puerto Rico. Part of a tight-knight community, she is industrious and respectful, and she and her sister Loli help their working mother however they can. In short, Maricarmen is a good kid. Soon, however, she falls in love with a boy who is anything but. Rey El Cantante has been in and out of juvenile detention facilities for years, but with his heart—and singing voice—of gold, Maricarmen cannot resist him. Maricarmen begins taking care of Rey’s baby brother, Tito, and then she and Rey have a daughter, Nena. But what begins as an innocent love between two teenagers hopeful they can build a better life outside the barrio turns into a series of devastating losses that nearly destroy the family they’ve made, forcing its members to face the traumas of both the past and present in order to survive and, possibly, heal.
Jaquira Diaz, who is already a critically acclaimed memoirist (Ordinary Girls), has done something both heartbreaking and wonderful in her debut novel. This Is the Only Kingdom is a scathing indictment of American neocolonialism in Puerto Rico and its rippling impact on individuals, families and communities through state violence, the proliferation of drugs, land theft and industrial pollution. Other issues like anti-Black racism and homophobia also loom large here, and make This Is the Only Kingdom more than just the story of a family. Instead, it is the story of how capitalism and all of its systems continue to fail us. At the same time, it is also about the resilience of a community, the tenacity of hope and the power of a mother’s (and a daughter’s) love.
