From the internationally bestselling author of In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents comes   “a stunning work of art that reminds readers Alvarez is, and always has been, in a class of her own.” (Elizabeth Acevedo, National Book Award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller The Poet X) Don't miss Alvarez’s new novel, The Cemetery of Untold Stories, available now! Antonia Vega, the immigrant writer at the center of  Afterlife , has had the rug pulled out from under her. She has just retired from the college where she taught English when her beloved husband, Sam, suddenly dies. And then more jolts: her bighearted but unstable sister disappears, and Antonia returns home one evening to find a pregnant, undocumented teenager on her doorstep. Antonia has always sought direction in the literature she loves—lines from her favorite authors play in her head like a soundtrack—but now she finds that the world demands more of her than words. Afterlife  is a compact, nimble, and sharply droll novel. Set in this political moment of tribalism and distrust, it asks: What do we owe those in crisis in our families, including—maybe especially—members of our human family? How do we live in a broken world without losing faith in one another or ourselves? And how do we stay true to those glorious souls we have lost? A Time Magazine Must-Read Book of 2020 A Most-Anticipated Book of the Year: O, The Oprah Magazine * The New York Times * The Washington Post * Vogue * Bustle * BuzzFeed * Ms. m agazine *  The Millions * Huffington Post * PopSugar * The Lily *  Goodreads * Library Journal * LitHub * Electric Literature A Best Book of 2020:  Kirkus Reviews  *  BookPage * Washington Independent Review of Books * Chicago Public Library A Kirkus Reviews  Best 2020 Fiction To Get Your Book Club Talking A Latinidad Best Latinx Book of 2020 An AudioFile Magazine Best Audiobook of 2020 “A gorgeously intimate portrait of an immigrant writer and recent widow carving out hope in the face of personal and political grief.” — O, The Oprah Magazine "[Alvarez] reaps the fruits of her earlier literary efforts . . . Afterlife is anchored not just in easy humor and sharp observation, but in her fine-tuned sense for the intimacies of immigrant sisterhood.” — The New York Times Book Review “Resonant . . . The novel, set in 2019, poses questions about American immigration and mental-health policies, and it is a moving exploration of the ways we inadvertently fail the people we love." — The New Yorker “A sweeping tour de force . . . One of the most significant Latina writers of her time.” —Entertainment Weekly “A beautifully written novel with a timely theme.” —People "Alvarez probes the contours of private moral decisions that echo our national conversation, which excludes migrant communities from claiming their contributions to our country. Afterlife will resonate with many readers in this era of social distance and anticipatory mourning." — The Washington Post "Alvarez crafts a moving portrait of the lengths people will go to help one another in moments of uncertainty." — Time “More than a few of Julia Alvarez’s peers must be shaking their heads that she can take almost 15 years off from writing adult fiction and come back with a novel as striking and lovely as Afterlife . . . [A] stunning novel.” —The Associated Press "Full of unexpected delights . . . [a] sunburst of a novel about family, immigration, love and moral choices.” —The San Francisco Chronicle “Skillfully executed, Afterlife is a compassionately political look at how we view the workers whom we gladly exploit, the immigration crisis, what we owe ourselves, and what we owe each other as a community.  [Afterlife ] displays Alvarez's poetic hyper-awareness of lyricism and word choice, and her ability to create moments that are simultaneously poignant and hilarious showcase this mastery.” — Salon.com "The bestselling Dominican American author of  In the Time of the Butterflies tackles weighty issues with a nice touch of humor in her new novel (which is on the shorter side, for anyone not in the mood for a big read)." — AARP.org “A stunning work of art that reminds readers Alvarez is, and always has been, in a class of her own.” —Elizabeth Acevedo, National Book Award-winning author of the New York Times  bestseller  The Poet X “First, let’s acknowledge the fact that a new novel by Julia Alvarez . . .is major news. Second, and more importantly, her new adult novel is really good! — BuzzFeed, "24 New Books We Couldn't Put Down" "[A] remarkable and nuanced novel exploring immigration, humanity and compassion in a bitter and fractured world.” — Ms. Magazine “ Afterlife  is a succinct and powerful novel about human connection. Alvarez is a writer in full command of her form, reminding the world of her vast and venerable talent.” — She