ISBN America Is Not the Heart book Paperback 416 pages

Longlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize'This book is it: one of the best debut novels (and novels, period) of recent years' - ElleHow many lives can one person lead in a single lifetime? When Hero De Vera arrives in America, disowned by her parents in the Philippines, she's already on her third. Her uncle, Pol, who has offered her a fresh start and a place to stay in the Bay Area, knows not to ask about the first and second. And his younger wife, Paz, has learned enough about the might and secrecy of the De Vera family to keep her head down. Only their daughter Roni asks Hero why her hands seem to scream with hurt at the steering wheel of the car she drives to collect her from school, and only Rosalyn, the fierce but open-hearted beautician, has any hope of bringing Hero back from the dead.

Elaine Castillo was born, raised and lives in the Bay Area.