Palm Latitudes

Written nearly a decade after Lithium for Medea, Palm Latitudes, Kate Braverman’s second novel and arguably her chef d’oeuvre, explores the intertwined lives of three women who await absolution and revelation in the bougainvillea- and violence-filled ＂barrio＂ of Los Angeles. Frances Ramos is a voluptuous prostitute who flaunts her wealth and is held in high esteem by the local street gangs. Gloria Hernandez is a dutiful young wife and mother--until her husband’s act of betrayal sparks her growing estrangement and fury. Marta Ortega, a prophetic old woman connected viscerally with the forces/elements of nature, nods as past and present mingle and quietly charts the cross-pollenization of her turbulent neighborhood, and of human destiny.

KATE BRAVERMAN is a native of Los Angeles who grew up surrounded by the counterculture of San Francisco. She has published several novels, including The Incantation of Frida K. (2002), Wonders of the West (1993), Palm Latitudes (1988), and Lithium for Medea (1979), books of poetry--Postcards from August (1990), Hurricane Warnings (1987), Lullaby for Sinners (1980), and Milkrun (1977)--and a collection of stories, Squandering the Blue (1990). She won the O. Henry Award in 1992.