“Enthralling... a masterful work.”
— The Washington Post
Praise for Marisel Vera’s Writing
“Illuminating.”
— O, The Oprah Magazine
“A sweeping, emotional tale.”
— Kirkus
“A majestic work.”
— Cristina Garcia, author of Dreaming in Cuban
“Subtle yet arresting… a gorgeous feat of storytelling.”
— Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage
Meet Marisel Vera
Marisel Vera is a proud Boricua writer from Humboldt Park, Chicago. Through her work, Vera explores the particular burdens that Puerto Ricans, on the island and throughout the diaspora, carry as colonial subjects of the United States.
Her acclaimed novel, The Taste of Sugar (Liveright), a tale of love and endurance on the eve of the Spanish American War, follows two Puerto Rican families as Puerto Rico’s colonial masters change from Spain to the United States. Vera is also the author of If I Bring You Roses (Grand Central), a story about a Puerto Rican couple who, like thousands of their compatriots, leave the island to work in US factories during the Puerto Rican government’s infamous Operation Bootstrap.
Vera is also the writer of You Can’t Cover the Sky With Your Hand, a play about the government weaponizing reproductive procedures, including sterilization, against Puerto Rican women, as las puertorriqueñas struggle for bodily autonomy.
Coming Summer 2025: The Girls from Humboldt Park (Liveright). Set during the 1970s liberation movements in a particularly turbulent time in Chicago’s Puerto Rican neighborhood, four girls struggle against the tyranny of society and home.
