My Train Leaves at Three - by Natalie Guerrero (Hardcover)

About the Book

"After her sister Nena's sudden death, Xiomara, an Afro-Latina singer and actress born and raised in Washington Heights, is numb. With her sister gone, Xiomara, painfully close to thirty, is living in a tiny apartment with her ultra-Catholic Puerto Rican mother, and having the same shitty sex with the same shitty men that she's been entertaining for years. Behind on rent despite two minimum-wage jobs, one of which involves singing show tunes while serving pancakes to tourists at Ellen's Stardust Diner, Xiomara is bitingly cynical. ... But when a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity falls into her lap--the chance to audition for Manny Santos, the most charismatic director of the moment--Xiomara sees a second chance to pursue the dream she thought she'd lost. Meanwhile, something about Santi, a new co-worker at the print shop where she spends half of her days photocopying other performers' headshots, starts to tug at the threads of her apathy"--

Book Synopsis

By a striking new voice in fiction, an electric coming-of-age novel that explores grief, family, sexuality, and love as an ambitious young woman from Washington Heights tries to make it on Broadway

"Guerrero leaves the reader not just enthralled and delighted but waiting with bated breath for what she will conjure up next."--Xochitl Gonzalez, author of Anita de Monte Laughs Last

After her sister Nena's sudden death, Xiomara, an Afro-Latina singer and actress born and raised in Washington Heights, is numb. With her sister gone, Xiomara, painfully close to thirty, is living in a tiny apartment with her ultra-Catholic Puerto Rican mother, and having the same shitty sex with the same shitty men that she's been entertaining for years. Behind on rent despite two minimum-wage jobs, one of which involves singing show tunes while serving pancakes to tourists at Ellen's Stardust Diner, Xiomara is bitingly cynical, especially in her grief, and barely treading water.

But when a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity falls into her lap--the chance to audition for Manny Santos, the most charismatic director of the moment--Xiomara sees a second chance to pursue the dream she thought she'd lost. Meanwhile, something about Santi, a new co-worker at the print shop where she spends half of her days photocopying other performers' headshots, starts to tug at the threads of her apathy. Nothing is simple, and soon Xiomara finds herself interacting with the ugliest sides of the industry and the powerful men who control it. Sometimes the closer you are to your dreams, the further away you become from yourself, and as Xiomara grapples with this hard truth, she is forced to ask herself if she has what it takes to build a new shiny life without losing the truth of her old one.

With hopeful spirit and unapologetic energy, My Train Leaves at Three is a coming-of-age story about the balancing act between moving on and moving forward.

Review Quotes

"Set in Washington Heights, My Train Leaves at Three follows Xiomara, an Afro-Latina singer and actress grieving the loss of her sister while struggling to stay afloat and pursue her dreams of Broadway. The novel explores grief and the challenge of balancing self-authenticity with the pressures of success."--TODAY

"The balance between ambition and authenticity swirls throughout Guerrero's coming-of-age debut as Xiomara strives to break out and become a star while grappling with the loss of her sister. It's as equally soft and sweet as it is biting. Guerrero's writing is fully charged from the jump."--Debutiful

"Captivating and charming . . . [Xiomara's] journey to self-actualization is complicated by monotonous odd jobs, a thorny relationship with her mother, and predatory dynamics with older men. (Oh, and she must also navigate her Saturn Return.)"--Elle

"This quiet, beautiful book came to me recently, at a time when I was experimenting with my voice in new mediums. Guerrero's story of transformation through solitude and movement reminded me that healing and change are not always loud. I see this reflected in characters who grow in silence, in the spaces in-­between."--Mara Brock Akil for Vogue

"A brilliant debut . . . My Train Leaves at Three is an emotionally layered story as well as a fiery love letter to the Latina diaspora and female quarter-life crisis. With writing that is sharp and straightforward, author Natalie Guerrero writes about young women, connection and loss."--Dominican Writers Association

"With My Train Leaves at Three Natalie Guerrero has entered the proverbial room, belted out her opening number and dropped the mic, leaving the reader . . . enthralled and delighted with this debut."--Xochitl Gonzalez, author of Anita de Monte Laughs Last

"My Train Leaves at Three is an act of alchemy: Guerrero takes the numbness of grief and the mangled aspirations of youth, and transforms them into moments and characters that are searingly alive, achingly gorgeous in their hard-won wisdom."--Torrey Peters, author of Stag Dance

"A breezy, verve-y addition to the New York stories canon. Xiomara, the book's insecure underdog, is a grieving, self-sabotaging train wreck, and while it's fun to see the many ways she self-destructs, it's even more rewarding when the hardworking dreamer pushes through to softer places and truer connections."--Quiara Alegría Hudes, author of My Broken Language

"With electric charm and that unmistakable, absurdist wit reserved for New Yorkers born-and-bred, Xiomara weaves us through the tunnels of her grief, the complexity of ambition, and the necessity of hope."--John Manuel Arias, author of the national bestseller Where There Was Fire

"An immersive and culturally acute coming-of-age story convincingly set on the darker side of the New York theater industry."--Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Natalie Guerrero is a writer based in Los Angeles. Her writing has been featured in publications such as Electric Literature, Byline, Goop, and Blavity. Guerrero's long-form work includes "On Silence," an essay published in Hungry Hearts (Dial Press) and Walking in My Joy (Amistad), a collection that Guerrero co-authored with actress Jenifer Lewis. Guerrero previously held positions with HarperCollins, WME Books, and Macro/M88. In her free time, she can be found walking her dog, Tupac, in the hills of Los Feliz.