An evocative multigenerational Cuban-American family story of revolution, loss, and family bonds.
Marisol vanished during the Cuban Revolution, disappearing with hardly a trace. Now, shaped by atrocities long-forgotten, her foul-mouthed spirit visits her nephew, Ramon, in modern day New Jersey. Her hope: That her presence will prompt him to unearth their painful family history.
Ramon launches a haphazard investigation into the story of his ancestor, unaware of the forces driving him on his search. Along the way, he falls in love, faces a run-in with a murderous gangster, and uncovers the lives of the lost saints who helped Marisol during her imprisonment.
Join us as the bestselling and beloved Daniel Jose Older sits down with Ashley C. Ford to discuss The Book of Lost Saints, his eagerly anticipated meditation on family, forgiveness, and the violent struggle to be free.
Daniel José Older is the New York Times bestselling author of the young adult series The Shadowshaper Cypher, the Bone Street Rumba urban fantasy series, the middle-grade historical fantasy series Dactyl Hill Squad, and Star Wars: Last Shot. He won the International Latino Book Award and has been nominated for the Kirkus Prize, the Mythopoeic Award, the Locus Award, the Andre Norton Award, and the World Fantasy Award. Shadowshaper was named one of Esquire’s 80 Books Every Person Should Read. You can find his thoughts on writing, read dispatches from his decade-long career as an NYC paramedic, and hear his music on his website, YouTube and on Twitter.
Ashley C. Ford is a writer, host, and educator who lives in Brooklyn by way of Indiana. She is writing a memoir entitled Somebody’s Daughter (Flatiron Books under the imprint ‘An Oprah Book’, 2021).
Recorded November 3, 2019
