“One of the most dazzling and devastating novels I’ve read in a long time… Unforgettable”
— San Francisco Chronicle
“A beautifully rendered novel of an Escobar-era Colombian childhood... Memorable and absorbing”
— The New York Times Book Review
 
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California book awards Silver medal winner in first fiction

longlisted for the international dublin literary award

A NEW YORK TIMES EDITOR’S CHOICE

AN INDIE NEXT PICK

A B&N DISCOVER GREAT NEW WRITERS SELECTION

“Original, politically daring, and passionately written”
— Vogue
“Simultaneously propulsive and poetic”
— Entertainment Weekly
 
 

A mesmerizing debut set in Colombia at the height Pablo Escobar's violent reign about a sheltered young girl and a teenage maid who strike an unlikely friendship that threatens to undo them both

 
 

Seven-year-old Chula lives in Bogotá, where the threat of kidnappings, car bombs, and assassinations hover just outside the neighborhood walls. Petrona, a thirteen-year old girl from the city's guerrilla-occupied slum, moves in as her family’s live-in maid.

Chula and Petrona strike a friendship, but as both girls' families scramble to maintain stability amidst the rapidly escalating conflict, Petrona and Chula get entangled in a web of secrecy that will force them to choose between sacrifice and betrayal. 

Inspired by the author's own life, Fruit of the Drunken Tree is told through the alternating perspectives of the willful Chula and the achingly hopeful Petrona, in two different but inextricable coming-of-age stories.

In lush prose, Rojas Contreras sheds light on the impossible choices women are often forced to make in the face of violence and the unexpected connections that can blossom out of desperation.

 
“BRAVA! I was swept up by this story”
— Sandra Cisneros, author of House on Mango Street
“Make room on your shelves for a writer whose impressive debut promises many more”
— Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents
“Rojas Contreras is a thrilling and brave new talent”
— Patricia Engel, author of The Veins of the Ocean

Reviews

“Riveting, powerful, and disturbing. A foreboding sense of danger and death lurk on every page. It’s a testament to her resilience and strength that she does not seek to assign blame for the chaos; her impressive novel engenders empathy for the children who were robbed of their childhoods.” — SF Examiner

“Fruit reads like a third novel, not a debut—confident in its delivery, earnest in its subject matter. It also bolsters a female, Latin American voice that must be heard loud and clear.” — The Millions

“A fascinating, poetic read from an up-and-coming author.” — Library Journal

“In vividly rendered prose, textured with generous Spanish, Rojas Contreras tells the story of an unlikely bond between two girls on the verge of womanhood ... A riveting, powerful, and fascinating first novel.” — Booklist

“Rojas Contreras packs her coming-of-age debut full of details about life in early 1990s Colombia during the last year of Pablo Escobar’s reign of terror. This striking novel offers an atmospheric journey into the narrow choices for even a wealthy family as society crumbles around them.” — Publisher’s Weekly

“Desperation makes demands. Those of means possess options that simply do not exist for those without. That reality is what makes Fruit of the Drunken Tree a particularly affecting immigrant account. It depicts the complexity and the humanity behind the journey... Rojas Contreras navigates this tumultuous terrain with an alluring sensitivity that proves she is an important voice to help us ask and answer such timely questions.” — Fathom

“A spellbinding story of two girls whose realities collide and who are forced to make nearly unbearable choices in the name of survival. The thrum of mystery and danger haunts every page, and you won’t be able to look away until you turn the last one. ”
— Cristina Henríquez, author of The Book of Unknown Americans
“Like the fragrant drunken tree that so discomfits Chula’s neighbors, this beautiful novel draws the reader under its treacherous, intoxicating spell.”
— Kristin Valdez Quade, author of Night at the Fiestas
“From its unforgettable opening image to its heartbreakingly perfect final line, Fruit of the Drunken Tree casts an irresistible spell. A stunning debut. ”
— Robin Wasserman, author of Girls on Fire
“This is storytelling as a heroic act.”
— Affinity Konar, author of Mischling