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Hugo Contreras’s world in Miami has shrunk. Since his wife died, Hugo’s debt from her medical bills has become insurmountable. He shuffles between his efficiency apartment, La Carreta (his favorite place for a cafecito), and a botanica in a strip mall where he works as the resident babaláwo.
One day, Hugo’s nemesis calls. Alexi Ramirez is a debt collector who has been hounding Hugo for years, and Hugo assumes this call is just more of the same. Except this time Alexi is calling because he needs spiritual help. His house is haunted. Alexi proposes a deal: If Hugo can successfully cleanse his home before Noche Buena, Alexi will forgive Hugo’s debt. Hugo reluctantly accepts, but there’s one issue: Despite being a babaláwo, he doesn’t believe in spirits.
Hugo plans to do what he’s done with dozens of clients before: use sleight of hand and amateur psychology to convince Alexi the spirits have departed. But when the job turns out to be more than Hugo bargained for, Hugo’s old tricks don’t work. Memories of his past—his childhood in the Bolivian silver mines and a fraught crossing into the United States as a boy—collide with Alexi’s demons in an explosive climax.
Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens explores questions of visibility, migration, and what we owe—to ourselves, our families, and our histories.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 3, 2023 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593786918
- File size: 243876 KB
- Duration: 08:28:04
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from October 30, 2023
In Palma’s chilling debut novel (after the collection In This World of Ultraviolet Light), a second-generation Bolivian immigrant in Miami struggles with crushing debt and searches for redemption after his wife’s unsuccessful cancer treatments. Despite his gig playing a babaláwo (a priest in the Yoruba religion) at a botanica, Hugo is skeptical of traditional rituals and exorcisms. However, his life takes a surprising turn when attorney Alexi Ramirez, who had previously sued Hugo for unpaid debts, begs for an exorcism. A deal is struck: Hugo will banish the malevolent presence before Noche Buena, and Alexi will wipe clean his debt. Initially, Hugo sees his role as a con artist, but as he immerses himself in the enigmatic Ramirez household and confronts his own past, the line between reality and the supernatural begins to blur. Palma masterfully intertwines Hugo’s immigrant journey, his intricate relationship with his late wife, and the ominous presence of El Tío, a Bolivian devil who has haunted Hugo far longer than he realized. The tension mounts steadily, with spine-tingling moments of horror intensifying as Hugo’s anger and remorse towards Alexi come to the forefront. Eventually, Hugo makes a fateful decision that alters the destinies of those around him. Palma’s fresh interpretation of timeless themes makes this a winner.
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