The Last Karankawas
A Novel
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3.4 • 5 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice • An Indie Next Pick • Named a Most Anticipated and Must-Read Book by BuzzFeed, Book Riot, and Ms. Magazine • One of Washington Independent Review of Books' Favorite Books of 2022
"Vivid . . . Garza's accomplished debut enriches the public imagination of this corner of America, and the communities within." —Melissa Chadburn, The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)
A blazing and kaleidoscopic debut about a tight-knit community of Mexican and Filipino American families on the Texas coast from a voice you won't soon forget.
Welcome to Galveston, Texas. Population 50,241.
Carly Castillo has only ever known Galveston. Her grandmother Magdalena claims that they descend from the Karankawas, an extinct indigenous Texan tribe, thereby tethering them to the land. Meanwhile, her boyfriend and all-star shortstop turned seaman, Jess, treasures the salty, familiar air. He’s gotten chances to leave for bigger cities, but he didn’t take them then and he sure as hell won’t now. When word spreads of a storm gathering strength offshore known as Hurricane Ike, each Galveston resident must make a difficult decision: board up the windows and hunker down or flee inland and abandon their hard-won homes.
Moving through the extraordinary lives of these characters and the many individuals who circle them, The Last Karankawas weaves together a multitude of voices to present a lyrical, emotionally charged portrait of everyday survival. The result is an unforgettable exploration of familial inheritance, human resilience, and the histories we assign to ourselves.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
An impending hurricane amplifies the problems confronting the characters in this haunting debut. Carly Castillo and her boyfriend, Jess, share a strong bond—their everyday lives in the tight-knit Filipino and Mexican American neighborhood of Fish Village in Galveston, Texas. But Carly’s thirst to experience the allure of the world beyond their hometown threatens to tear the couple apart. Kimberly Garza’s novel pulls us into the stories of a fascinating, interconnected cast of characters living on the Gulf Coast as Hurricane Ike barrels their way. Touching on issues like indigenous rights, community engagement, cultural legacy, and immigration, The Last Karankawas is inventive and very moving.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Garza debuts with an accomplished account of the ties between members of a Galveston, Tex., Filipino and Mexican community as they prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Ike in 2008. Though there are many connected accounts from different points of view, the narrative centers on Carly Castillo, who longs to leave Galveston. After Carly's mother returned to the Philippines without her, Carly was raised by her grandmother Magdalena, who is now declining from dementia. Magdalena tells her they're the descendants of the Karankawa Indigenous tribe, trying to impart a tie to Galveston even as Carly longs to explore life elsewhere. Carly's boyfriend, Jess Rivera, a promising baseball player, helps support his family by working with local fisherman Vinh Pham. Since his father was incarcerated, Jess's mother rarely leaves the house, and the matriarch role has fallen to the eldest of his four sisters, Yvonne. Though readers might have trouble keeping track of the many characters, the strong sense of place carries through no matter who is talking, whether individual characters or a chorus of Filipino church members who scrutinize Carly ("we are afraid that what we suspect is true, that she has a Filipina mother but no Philippines anywhere in her"). This is a worthy love letter to Galveston.
Customer Reviews
My favorite book of the year
The Last Karankawas was one of my favorite books that I’ve read this year. The author, Kimberly Garza did a reading at my university several months ago and I loved the concept of her novel when she explained it and just loved it even more when she started reading to us, I knew that I wanted to read the whole book when she was finished with her reading.
This book is made up essentially of short stories about the people in the Galveston, TX area and their experiences, particularly their experiences as they prepare for Hurricane Ike. Each chapter could be a stand-alone short story from the perspective of a different member of this community, but all of the stories combined gives the readers a more complete understanding of this community and the people who live in it.
For readers who like more action and a clearer line throughout a book, this may not be the novel for you. However, this book paints such an incredible picture of the people of Galveston and their unique experiences. I loved the human element to this story and the fact that everyday experiences for these characters created the story rather than some huge, unrealistic threat that had to be defeated.
One thing that I particularly loved about this book was the different voices that could be seen in each of the characters. While you could still recognize Kimberly’s writing style, each character had their own distinct voice and unique story that made the book so interesting and diverse.
The Last Karankawas was an absolutely incredible novel, I could not recommend it enough.