FAMILY LORE a spirited but flawed portrait of a Dominican-American family

Family Lore

By Elizabeth Acevedo

Ecco: August 1, 2023

384 pages, $30.00

Elizabeth Acevedo’s first novel for adults after several award-winning YA books (The Poet X, Clap When You Land, With the Fire on High) was eagerly anticipated by her adult readers. Since I don’t often read YA fiction, Family Lore was my first experience with Acevedo’s colorful, energetic storytelling and prose.

It’s the story of a four sisters and two of their daughters that is set in motion when Flor, who has a gift for premonitions of someone’s impending death, announces that she wants to have a “living wake” while she’s still alive. Naturally this turns her family upside down with concern and confusion.

Acevedo gives each of the main characters their own narrative. We’re taken back through their moves from the Dominican countryside to Santo Domingo and then on to New York City, as well as various family and romantic relationships, creating a vivid portrait of the family’s struggles and joys.

Flor, Pastora, Matilde, and Camila are quirky and believable, and the language is what you’d expect from a poet-turned-novelist. The prose is sensual and a pleasure to read aloud. I’m guessing the audiobook might be a great way to enjoy this book.

But telling the story through so many narratives leads to some confusion and, for me at least, weakened the novel’s momentum. Between the shifting perspectives and the frequent movement back and forth in time, it’s hard to keep track of what’s going on, with whom, and when. (You might want to take some notes to keep everything straight.)

Still, Family Lore is an absorbing examination of one Dominican-American family that, despite the occasionally confusing structure, bodes well for future adult-oriented novels from Acevedo.