LGBT+ Bookworms End of August Meeting

In August we'll read a book that engages both head and heart -- a debut that combines science fiction with politics, Archive of Unknown Universes. Author Ruben Reyes Jr. is the son of two Salvadoran immigrants and the author of the story collection, There is a Rio Grande in Heaven, which was named a finalist for The Story Prize. His novel begins in Cambridge, 2018. Ana and Luis’s relationship is on the rocks, despite their many similarities, including their mothers who both fled El Salvador during the war. In her search for answers, and against her best judgement, Ana uses The Defractor, an experimental device that allows users to peek into alternate versions of their lives. What she sees leads her and Luis on a quest through Havana and San Salvador to uncover the family histories they are desperate to know, eager to learn if what might have been could fix what is. Reyes juxtaposes this story with events from Havana, 1978. The Salvadoran war is brewing, and Neto, a young revolutionary with a knack for forging government papers, meets Rafael at a meeting for the People's Revolutionary Army. The two form an intense and forbidden love, shedding their fake names and revealing themselves to each other inside the covert world of their activism. Reyes remixes fantasy with politics, history with speculative, sexy futurism. In his fictional reality, Boston fades into Nicaraguan jungles, markets in East Los Angeles transition into oceanfront balconies in Havana. Archive of Unknown Universes is under 300 pages and is available at local libraries and online. Join the Bookworms end-of-summer get together to discuss this exciting book!