The Princess of Valencia

In prose both heartrending and harrowing, National Book Award finalist Susan Straight conjures up the unforgettable voice of a mother coming to terms with her worst nightmare.Twenty-year-old Jacinta grew up in her mother’s family home in Santa Ana, California, surrounded by a grove of orange trees. Little by little, Jacinta’s mother lost her—first to college, then to a boy she said she loved, and then, finally, to the rage of a school shooter. Snap. In an instant it was all gone. All she has now is her daughter’s phone. Like an album, gripped in the palm of her hand—texts, photos, messages, and videos of her daughter’s first three years at college. With it, Jacinta’s mother is reconstructing her daughter’s last three weeks.In this uniquely moving exploration of mourning, fury, and reminiscence, Susan Straight evokes—through a grieving mother’s devastating internal monologue—both a modern-day nightmare and exquisite proof of love’s extraordinary power to overcome it.