Uprooted from Bogota into an ant-infested Miami townhouse, fifteen-year-old Francisca is miserable in her strange new city. Her alienation grows when her mother is swept up in an evangelical church, replete with abstinent salsa dancers and baptisms for the dead. But there, Francisca meets the magnetic Carmen: head of the youth group and the pastor’s daughter. As her mother’s mental health deteriorates, Francisca falls for Carmen and is saved to grow closer with her, even as their relationship hurtles toward a shattering conclusion.
‘When you drive around town, when you stare out the window, when you wake up in the middle of the night, whether you know it or not, you are waiting for a book like this. This book is a triumph, and we’re all triumphant in its presence.’ - David Handler, author of All the Dirty Parts
‘Fiebre Tropical is a story of migration, queerness, brokenness, and love. Juliana Delgado Lopera has written a novel across borders that buzzes with verve, fierceness, and raw emotion. Delgado Lopera forks her tongue for this book, weaving English and Spanish in inspired and irreverent prose. This book is absolute music to my ears.’ - Ingrid Rojas Contreras, author of Fruit of the Drunken Tree: A Novel
‘[An] inventive and heady mixture of Spanish and English.’ - The White Review
‘Fiebre Tropical is a literary explosion filled with sweaty Jesus-crazed teens, fainting churchgoers, powerful, melodramatic mothers, and drunken grandmothers. In a rollicking, multilingual prose both wise and irreverent, brimming with snark and queer humor, Juliana Delgado Lopez crafts a migration tale we’ve never read and badly need.’ - Michelle Tea, author of Against Memoir: Complaints, Confessions & Criticisms
‘A whip-smart, unapologetic voice peppered with Colombian slang…the great strength of Delgado Lopera’s writing lies in its layered portrayals of these characters and their world. A rich, deeply felt novel about family ties, immigration, sexual longing, faith, and desire. Simultaneously raw and luminous.’ - Kirkus Reviews
