Review by Booklist Review
The Grand Paloma is a luxury resort in the Dominican Republic that employs many of the area's residents. Laura has worked her way up to management; the resort has also allowed her to support and educate her younger sister, Elena, after their mother's death and their father's disappearance. Laura is on the cusp of a promotion that will send her and Elena to a resort in Portugal, but their upward mobility is jeopardized when the child of a guest is injured while in Elena's care. The accident sets off a chain of events that exposes the lack of regard that the resort's owners have for the locals and their Haitian immigrant neighbors. As Laura desperately tries to regain control, save face with upper management, and preserve the hotel-guest experience, her fellow employees, family, and neighbors begin to question where her loyalties lie. Natera (Neruda on the Park, 2022) balances multiple characters and plot points while exposing the layered effects of race and class dynamics within and across communities. Recommend to fans of Yun Ko-Eun's The Disaster Tourist (2020) or TV's The White Lotus.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Natera (Neruda on the Park) riffs on The White Lotus in her gripping tale of disaster unfolding at a Dominican resort over the course of a week. Laura, 27, a manager at the resort, has cared for her wild younger sister, Elena, now 17, since their mother's suicide over a decade earlier. She's close to securing a promotion and with it her and Elena's future. Meanwhile, Elena works as a babysitter for guests' children. After one of her charges has a bad fall while Elena's high on ecstasy, Laura seeks help from a witch friend to heal the child and urges Elena to flee the country. To pay for a flight to London, Elena hatches a plan to pocket $10,000 from the child's father in exchange for sex with a brothel owner's two underage daughters, but she warns the girls not to spend time with him. Just as a hurricane bears down on the area, the two girls go missing, sending locals on a frantic search to bring them home. Meanwhile, Laura desperately tries to clear Elena from suspicion of human trafficking. Natera adds lush details of Dominican culture and heavy themes about the power and burden of family bonds. It's a worthy pick for the beach bag. Agent: PJ Mark, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Aug.)
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