This Is the Only Kingdom A Novel

Growing up in Puerto Rico, Maricarmen worked hard, cleaning houses, getting good grades, always dreaming of becoming a singer. When she met Rey, she fell in love with his dynamism, his love of music, his band, the way he focused on her only. When she became pregnant, she didn't realize the depth of her mother Blanca's racism and that she would kick her own daughter out of the house for loving a Black man. Still, Maricarmen is strong, and she makes a home for her and Rey and Rey's young brother Tito and finally their new baby Nena. When Ray is murdered, it falls to Maricarmen to raise both Nena and Tito, holding down two jobs to take care of them.  But when Tito goes out one night and is found dead in the sugar cane fields behind their house, Nena and Maricarmen find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation while also mourning the bright spot that Tito was for both of them. Nor can they count on help from Maricarmen's' mother Blanca, and that's when Maricarmen herself gives up, leaving Nena to find her own way.

It will take a split between mother and daughter and the wisdom only gained through years that will bring these two back together and remind them of how much they'd always loved each other. 

A searing and moving portrait of a family torn apart and determined to come back together.