Every so often, a book utterly defies your expectations of what a novel can and should do. Heartland is longtime playwright and lesbian activist Ana Simo's debut novel, which was a finalist for the first Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing. Don't be fooled by the seemingly safe and centered title: Heartland is a murder mystery turned inside out, mixing the styles of telenovela and pulp noir, set in a dystopian dark mirror of our society in which government corruption has led to mass starvation in the heartland and a nationwide refugee crisis. Our heroine is a luckless writer who becomes obsessed with eliminating from the face of the earth her rival in love—but her homicidal masterplan becomes more ornate than a baroque symphony.
The New York Times Book Review calls it "hilariously absurd and profane"—which seems fitting for our not-so-hilariously absurd and profane times. It’s also a searching exploration of America’s conflicted attitudes toward race, assimilation, and sexual mores. We hope you "heart" it as much as we do! And be sure to catch Ana in person at these upcoming live events:
Live Events for Ana Simo's Heartland
Join Latinx in Publishing and Restless Books for a rollicking evening of Literary Lotería (it’s like bingo! but better!), plus lots of tequila, tacos, and premier premios (that’s prizes, Anglos).
On Friday June 2, Ana Simo, author Heartland, will be in a discussion entitled "Resist, Rebel, Transgress" with author Susana Cook as part of the Bureau of General Services - Queer Division's The Literary Avengers: 25th Anniversary Exhibition event series.
Can't Make the Events? Get the Book:
By Ana Simo
The 2019 Triangle Lit Awards Announces Ana Simo’s Heartland as a Finalist for the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction
In a word-drunk romp through an alternate, pre-apocalyptic United States, Ana Simo’s fiction debut, Heartland, is the uproarious story of a thwarted writer’s elaborate revenge on the woman who stole her lover, blending elements of telenovela, pulp noir, and dystopian satire.
Paperback • ISBN: 9781632061508
Publication date: Jan 16, 2018
Fardwor, Russia! + Heartland + Checkpoint
Wildly funny and deadly serious: these novels serve you lesbian pulp noir in pre-apocalyptic America and razor-sharp critiques of war and Putin’s Russia.