Reminiscent of Gabriela Garcia's Of Women and Salt, Leah Franqui brings us an engrossing, deeply personal novel with a mystery at its heart as a daughter returns to Puerto Rico to search for her troubled father, who has gone missing after Hurricane Maria rom the outside, Elena Vega's life appears to be an easy one: the only child of two professional parents, private school, NYU. But her twenties feel bleak and aimless as she struggles with the legacy of her father, the brilliant but deeply troubled Santiago Vega. The child of migrants from rural Puerto Rico, Santiago was raised in New York by his mentally ill mother and his formidable grandmother. An outstanding student, he followed scholarships to Stanford, then Yale Law, marrying Elena's mother along the way. Santiago is the shining star of his family_-the one who made it out and struck it rich. But he is a haunted man, plagued by trauma, bipolar disorder, and alcoholism. He's lost contact with Elena over the years and returned to San Juan to wrestle his demons alone. Then Hurricane Maria strikes, and Santiago vanishes. Elena returns to Puerto Rico, a place she loved as a child but hasn't seen in years. There she must unravel the truth about who her father is, crisscrossing the storm-swept island and reaching deep into his family tree to find relatives she's never met, each of whom seems to possess a clue about Santiago's fate. A compelling mystery unfolds as Elena is reunited with family and with a place she loved and lost- -the island of Puerto Rico. After the Hurricane is a story of connection, migration, striving, love, and loss, illuminated by humor and affection, written by a novelist at the height of her gifts. leah franqui is a graduate of Yale University and received an MFA at NYU Tisch. A Puerto Rican-Jewish native of Philadelphia, Franqui lived for many years in Mumbai with her Indian-born husband, who works in Bollywood. She's currently completing a PhD in creative writing at Georgia State University. LeahFranqui.com f/leahfranquiauthor! y @leahfranqui Of leahfranqui