A peek into a 2023 book you need to add to your radar!
with Ana Reyes, author of The House in the Pines: A Novel
#NuevasPaginasconLupita is a space that is both an archive and resource aimed to "spotlight" Hispanic/Latinx/e authors with newly published books. The goal is to connect readers to new and/or old favorite Hispanic/Latinx/e authors and their books! So give this & every post a share to help us reach more readers!
How does it work?!
Here’s the deal, I came up with a set of casual/random/funny questions to ask each Hispanic/Latinx/e author, I interview. For now, the questions will all be the same but maybe in the future I’ll launch this into more specific questions to the author or maybe I’ll turn this series into a mini-podcast, or maybe……well, you get it! The possibilities are endless.
If you are new here don’t forget to check out all the other amazing interviews! We also have a great line-up of guest authors coming up so make sure you don’t miss an issue by subscribing now!
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Hey Heyyy Book Franz!
I know many of us might not be ready to face the reality that 2023 is quickly approaching but I’m going to try and soften that blow by highlighting the fact that there are a ton of really amazing books coming our way in 2023!!! And you get to learn more about one of them in today’s issue. But before we jump into that I wanted to share some exciting news:
I wrote my first piece as a contributor for Today.com and I’m very excited about it. I am mostly excited to have had the opportunity to work with the senior entertainment editor at Today - Elena Nicolaou and Editorial Director - Arianna Davis. I admire both for the smart and fun bookish coverage they previously provided through Oprah Daily and I am so excited about the amazing bookish coverage they have in mind for Today!
I know I said I was done with author events for the year but when Emmy Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist -Maria Hinojosa wants to chat with you about her memoir ‘Once I Was You’ and its recent adaptation for young readers, you simply can’t say no. So if you are on Instagram - join us on November 1st at 7:30 PM ET for an IG live with la Reina Maria Hinojosa <3
For the #LupitasBookClub Besties:
We wrapped up our September read ‘Solito’ by Javier Zamora with a discussion thread last week but in case you are still reading - please feel free to take your time. The discussion thread will remain open whenever you are ready!
The next book we are reading is Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin! One of the reasons I picked this short novella (under 200 pages; you will literally read it in one day) is because there’s a movie adaptation of it available on Netflix, so for book club, we’ll be viewing the movie too! You can catch the discussion via TikTok or right here! Are you not totally convinced you want to read with us? Check out this video!
Without further ado, our special guest author for today’s issue is……Ana Reyes author of The House in the Pines! Available in all bookstores January 3, 2023
Could you tell me a bit about where this photo was taken? Is it special to your book in some way?
This photo was taken in the woods of New England, not far from my book’s main setting
Tell me about your book without telling me about your book - share any literary inspirations behind your book! If there are none, the gap you wanted to fill in the literary canon with your book.
You know that feeling when your parents first dropped you off at school? Or your first night sleeping alone in a new bed, in a new city, far from wherever you call home? Or maybe you’re like my father, an immigrant, arriving in the U.S. where you don’t speak the language, and no one knows your name. Knowing you might never go home again. That feeling—that yearning to return to a place and time of belonging—helped me write The House in the Pines.
I was also inspired by an ancient poem called “The Hymn of the Pearl,” about a young boy who travels to a distant land and forgets his home for many years. He never would’ve remembered it except for a bird that whispers the truth into his ear, reminding the boy (now a man) of who he really is, and where he's from. “The Hymn of the Pearl” makes an appearance in my book, and by including it, I like to think I’m passing down a beloved heirloom from one very old generation to the next.
What are two central themes in your book that you connect with the most and why?
Aside from the idea of home, the theme of memory and the way it shapes our identity is important. When we first meet Maya, the main character, she’s reeling from the trauma of an event she can’t remember. Much of her self-destructive behavior is driven by that memory lurking in her subconscious, like a sea monster hidden just beneath the surface of dark water. Out of sight, but no less dangerous, what Maya can’t remember could destroy her.
If a book was home, where would your home be?
Down a narrow path through the woods, then over a bridge to a clearing on the other side. The home is in the clearing, ringed by a wall of trees. Awake, I doubt I could find the place, but asleep I know the way by heart.
If your book was a famous musician who would it be?
Rebekah Del Rio. She appears in David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive as “La Llorona de Los Ángeles” and her performance is one of my all-time favorite scenes in any movie. I aim for the haunting beauty of her voice.
What comfort food could a reader pair with your book?
My grandmother’s tamales. She makes them every Christmas, mixing the masa by hand, browning pumpkin and sesame seeds, blending them up with ancho peppers and tomatoes then ladling the sauce over chunks of pork, bell pepper, and green olives. She envelopes this filling in masa and wraps it all up in banana leaves.
Her full recipe can be found here in a video created by my mom.
In what ways has access (or little to no access) to Hispanic/Latinx/e literature defined you as a writer?
I read a lot of YA horror, thrillers, and mysteries as a kid and most of those books starred white high school students. Then, when I was a teenager, my grandfather handed me Bless Me, Ultima. My maternal grandmother was in the hospital at the time, and it was becoming clear that she was dying. I hadn’t heard of Rudolfo Anaya and wasn’t sure why my grandfather was giving me this book, but now I understand that it was because Bless Me, Ultima is, among other things, about a boy confronting death for the first time. The book brought me comfort when I needed it and taught me the healing power of storytelling.
Where can readers keep up with your work?
I’m on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Before the interview wraps up, the wonderful folks at Dutton agreed to co-host a FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY with me! So if you want to win a FREE advance readers copy (ARC) of today’s featured book (I have two copies to give away!).
All you have to do is the following: leave a comment that you are interested and would like to be entered below (one comment/entry per person). It’s that simple :) and if you want to increase your chances of winning a copy - share this interview by either forwarding the email to a friend or on social media (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok - basically wherever you social media!) Once you’ve done that add a second comment below to let me know you’ve shared the interview as well. Good luck!
A huge thank you to Ana Reyes for taking the time to chat with me about her book! Please please make sure you purchase a copy (or request your local library carry a copy) of her book #SupportLatinxLit!
Ana Reyes has an MFA from Louisiana State University. Her work has appeared in Bodega, Pear Noir!, New Delta Review, and elsewhere. She lives in Los Angeles where she teaches creative writing to older adults at Santa Monica College. The House in the Pines is her first novel. (author bio from bookshop.org).
Synopsis for The House in the Pines from the Bookshop website:
A debut thriller about the subtlety of memory and manipulation, in which a young woman must find her way back to a New England cabin, armed with only hazy, haunting memories and a half-written book by the father in Guatemala she never knew, to finally uncover the truth that could save her.
Maya was a high school senior when her best friend, Aubrey, mysteriously dropped dead in front of the enigmatic man named Frank whom they'd been hanging around with all summer.
Seven years later, Maya lives in Boston with a loving boyfriend and is kicking the secret addiction that's allowed her to cope with what happened all those years ago; the gaps in her memories and the lost time that she can't account for. But her past comes rushing back when she comes across a recent YouTube video in which a young woman suddenly keels over and dies in a diner while sitting across from none other than Frank. Plunged back into the trauma that has defined her life, Maya heads to her Berkshires postindustrial hometown to relive that fateful summer--the influence Frank once had on her and the obsessive jealousy that nearly destroyed her friendship with Aubrey. And before too long all roads are leading back to Frank's cabin. . . .
Utterly unique and captivating, The House in the Pines keeps you guessing about whether we can ever fully confront the past and return home.
Thanks for yet another compelling book rec! Would love to read an ARC. Also looking forward to your interview with Maria Hinojosa!
I'm interested in reading this one!