Hispanic/Latino Fiction

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Here, in an astonishing debut by a gifted storyteller, is the magnificent saga of proud and passionate men and women and the turbulent times through which they suffer and triumph. They are the Truebas. And theirs is a world you will not want to leave and one you will not forget.

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez
It's a long way from Santo Domingo to the Bronx, but if anyone can go the distance, it's the Garcia girls. Four lively Latinas plunge from a pampered life of privilege on an island compound into the big-city chaos of New York, where they embrace all that America has to offer.

Bless me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
When a curandera comes to stay with a young boy, he tests the bonds that tie him to his culture and finds himself in the secrets of the past.

So Far From God by Ana Castillo
Sofia and her fated daughters, Fe, Esperanza, Caridad and la Loca, endure hardship and enjoy love in the sleepy New Mexico hamlet of Tome, a town teeming with marvels where the comic and the horrific, the real and the supernatural, reside.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world and this 10th-anniversary edition, with a new introduction from the author, will only increase that following. This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest.

The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd, a New Jersey romantic who dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the fuku – the ancient curse that has haunted Oscar's family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still dreaming of his first kiss, is only its most recent victim – until the fateful summer that he decides to be its last.

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Each chapter of screenwriter Esquivel's utterly charming interpretation of life in turn-of-the-century Mexico begins with a recipe – not surprisingly, since so much of the action of this exquisite first novel centers around the kitchen, the heart and soul of a traditional Mexican family.

The Years With Laura Diaz by Carlos Fuentes
In a masterwork imbued with historical anecdotes, mystical imagery and revelations about human existence, Fuentes relates the story of 20th-century Mexico through the fictional biography of Laura Diaz. Narrated by Laura's great-grandson, a photographer and documentary filmmaker, the central thread is straightforward: Laura grows from an unusually observant child into an attractive and passionate young woman, survives numerous revolutions and world wars, several lovers and one husband. The catalyst that keeps this chronicle engaging is Laura's desire to steer the course of her life above and beyond the political currents surging through Mexican society.

Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia
A vivid and funny first novel about three generations of a Cuban family divided by conflicting loyalties over the Cuban revolution, set in the world of Havana in the 1970s and '80s and in an emigre neighborhood of Brooklyn. It is a story of immense charm about women and politics, women and witchcraft, women and their men.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Marquez Garcia
One of the most influential literary works of our time, One Hundred Years of Solitude is a dazzling and original achievement by the masterful Gabriel Garcia Marquez, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buend a family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad and alive with unforgettable men and women – brimming with truth, compassion and a lyrical magic that strikes the soul – this novel is a masterpiece in the art of fiction.

The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos
It's 1949. It's the era of the mambo and two young Cuban musicians make their way up from Havana to the grand stage of New York. The Castillo brothers, workers by day, become by night stars of the dance halls, where their orchestra plays the lush, sensuous, pulsing music that earns them the title of the Mambo Kings. This is their moment of youth – a golden time that 30 years later will be remembered with nostalgia and deep afection. In The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, Oscar Hijuelos has created a rich and enthralling novel about passion and loss, memory and desire.

In Praise of Stepmother by Mario Vargas Llosa
Mario Vargas Llosa, the internationally acclaimed author of The Storyteller, adds his own finely tuned poetic polish to this erotic exploration of carnality in one family. He turns the proverbial romantic triangle on its ear to create this New York Times bestselling erotic novel.

Caramba!: A Tale Told in Turns of the Card by Nina Marie Martinez
Welcome to Lava Landing, population 27,454, a town just this side of Mexico, where Miss Magma reigns, and rockabilly and mariachi music are king. Enter our protagonists, Natalie and Consuelo, self-described like-minded individuals. They spend their days at The Big Cheese Plant and their nights at The Big Five-Four, the hottest spot in town. But they have long-term projects, foremost among them to cure Consuelo of her unreasonable fear of public transportation and long car rides so they can finally take Natalie's 1963 Cadillac convertible on the road trip it deserves.

The Dirty Girls Social Club by Alisa Valdes-Rodriquez
Filled with humor, drama and the redemptive power of friendship, this debut novel portrays the lives of six upwardly mobile Latina women in their late 20s who dish, dine and help each other over the bumpy course of life and love.

In Perfect Light by Benjamin Alire Saenz
Light evokes images of beauty, purity and naïveté; it connotes a divining spirit or guide, clarity amid obfuscation, a safe haven. American Book Award–winning poet, children's author and former priest Sáenz has manipulated this metaphor in a visceral, heartrending story of two Mexican-American families whose lives are intertwined owing to a violent, random act.