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SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM SAROYAN INTERNATIONAL PRIZE I was crying like I lost my best friend as I finished. . . . This book is an act of love . . . It will break you apart and remind you that we can all be put back together again, stronger, and wiser than before. -- XOCHITL GONZALEZ, New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming An emotionally riveting coming-of-age drama about two cousins lured into the underground drug trade at a young age and the inextricable ties that bind them, as one woman seeks power and the other seeks a way out--the debut of a vibrant and stunningly original new voice in fiction. Carmen and Grace have been inseparable since they were little girls--more like sisters than cousins, survivors of a childhood marked by neglect and addiction and a system that never valued them. For too long, all they had was each other. That is, until Doña Durka swept into their lives and changed everything, taking Grace into her home, providing stability and support, and playing an outsize role in Carmen's upbringing too. Durka is more than a beneficent force in their Bronx neighborhood, though. She's also the leader of an underground drug empire, a larger-than-life matriarch who understands the vital importance of taking what power she can in a world too often ruled by violent men. So, when Durka dies suddenly under mysterious circumstances, Carmen and Grace's lives are thrown into chaos. Grace has been primed to take over and has grand plans to expand the bu