- 49 Henry Street, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Natera
Cleyvis Natera
Cleyvis Natera is a novelist, short story writer, essayist, and critic. She is the author of the debut novel Neruda on the Park, which was a New York Times Editor’s Choice and was awarded a Silver Medal by the International Latino Book Awards for Best First Book of Fiction. The recipient of awards and fellowships from PEN America, the Vermont Studio Center, Hermitage Artist Retreat, and Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Natera studied literature and creative writing at Skidmore College and holds a M.F.A. in Fiction from New York University. Her fiction, essays and criticisms have appeared in Kirkus, The New York Times Book Review, URSA, TIME, Gagosian Quarterly, The Brooklyn Rail, The Rumpus, The Washington Post, Pleiades, The Kenyon Review, Aster(ix) and Kweli Journal, among others. Her second novel, The Grand Paloma Resort, comes out in August 2025 from Ballantine Books. Natera currently teaches creative writing at Barnard College of Columbia University and Montclair State University. At Montclair State University, Natera leads the development of a new Bilingual M.F.A. Creative Writing Program.
Natera’s debut, Neruda on the Park, was a most anticipated book of the year by TIME, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly and Goodreads, among other publications. Neruda on the Park was selected by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai for her Literati Book Club. Natera was awarded the 2024 Toni Morrison Fiction Fellowship at Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and the 2024 Voices Rising Fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center. Natera has been admitted to the Fulbright Associate’s Program through April 2027.
Books
About The Grand Paloma Resort
The Grand Paloma Resort is a lush paradise in the Dominican Republic where the guests enjoy incredible luxury, and the staff is always eager to please—that is, until they are pushed to the brink.
Laura is a local Dominican woman who, through sheer hard work, has risen through the ranks to become manager at the Grand Paloma Resort. Her idea to pair a “platinum” guest with their own resort employee to attend to their every whim has been wildly successful, and she’s just weeks away from a promotion that could blaze a path for her off the resort and toward a life of opportunity. If only her younger sister, Elena—who she’s looked after since the death of their mother—could get with the program.
Elena has tried to live up to her sister’s expectations, but to escape the drudgery of waiting on rich tourists, she’s become increasingly dependent on pills and partying. As a babysitter at the resort, she’s at the beck and call of guests who are indulging their worst impulses and need someone else to watch their kids while they do so. Now, after an accident, a child left in her charge is believed dead, and Elena knows she’ll be held responsible.
When Elena runs into the child’s father at a nearby beachfront watering hole, he offers her an obscene amount of money for private time with two young local girls. Elena pockets the cash to fund her escape and prays she’s gotten the girls out of harm’s way. But then the girls are reported missing.
Set over the course of seven days, The Grand Paloma Resort offers an unforgettable story of class, family, and community, building to an intense climax in which the true costs of luxury are laid bare, redeemed only by true acts of love.
Praise
“Gripping . . . Cleyvis Natera, author of Neruda on the Park, crafts a layered narrative about sisterhood, ambition, and the quiet rebellions of working-class women. A lush and suspenseful summer read.” —Al Dìa
“Cleyvis Natera blew me away with her debut Neruda on the Park and her sophomore novel is truly the perfect follow-up from White Lotus.”—Crime Reads
“Cleyvis Natera is a masterful storyteller, and this irresistible novel is a master class in human nature at its most vulnerable, most callous, and most righteous.”—Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
“One of the most compelling stories you will read this year.”—Charmaine Wilkerson, author of Black Cake and Good Dirt
“With compelling characters and a narrative that steals your breath from the first page, The Grand Paloma Resort offers an unforgettable, unexpected story that will upend readers’ assumptions about power, pleasure, and moral salvation.”—Xochitl Gonzalez, author of Olga Dies Dreaming
“A deeply felt, utterly unputdownable read.”—Karin Slaughter, author of Pretty Girls
“A tense page-turner that unsparingly interrogates allegiances, and belonging, and who gets to decide how you survive.”—Cristina García, author of Vanishing Maps
Product Details
The Grand Paloma Resort
ISBN: 9780593873267
Published by Ballantine Books–August 12, 2025