Neruda on the Park
Dominican Republic United States

Neruda on the Park

by Cleyvis Natera

Summary

For twenty years, the Guerrero family has called Nothar Park, a predominantly Dominican neighbourhood in New York City, home. But when a neighbouring tenement is demolished to make way for luxury condominiums, the threat of gentrification pushes the community toward a breaking point. Eusebia Guerrero, determined to protect the neighbourhood and the people who shaped her life, begins organising increasingly risky schemes to frighten developers away. Her daughter, Luz, has very different ambitions: a successful career in corporate law and the comfortable lifestyle her immigrant parents worked hard to provide.

When Luz loses her job and falls into a passionate relationship with a wealthy property developer connected to the very project her mother opposes, the conflict between them becomes deeply personal. Meanwhile, Luz’s father secretly plans their retirement in the Dominican Republic, reopening old tensions about home and belonging.

With humour and emotional depth, Neruda on the Park explores gentrification, generational conflict, immigrant identity, and the difficult choices families face when the place they call home begins to disappear.

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Cleyvis Natera
Cleyvis Natera

Cleyvis Natera is a Dominican-American novelist who was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to the United States at the age of ten. Raised in New York City, she draws on the experiences of immigrant communities to explore identity, family, class, and belonging. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Skidmore College and an MFA from New York University. Her debut novel, Neruda on the Park (2022), received recognition as a New York Times Editors’ Choice and was named one of the year’s best books by PopSugar. Her writing has received awards and fellowships from organisations including PEN America, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her fiction examines the tensions between personal ambition and collective responsibility, particularly within immigrant families navigating social and cultural change. Her second novel, The Grand Paloma Resort, further explores these themes.

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Published
2022
Author
Cleyvis Natera