Mayra

A Novel

By: Nicky Gonzalez

Narrated by: Frankie Corzo

An eerie, hypnotic debut about friendship, desire, and memory set against the sultry backdrop of Florida’s swamplands.

“A mesmerizing, hallucinatory adrenaline rush of a novel.”—Claire Luchette, author of Agatha of Little Neon

LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE

It’s been years since Ingrid has heard from her childhood best friend, Mayra, a fearless rebel who fled their hometown of Hialeah, a Cuban neighborhood just west of Miami, for college in the Northeast. But when Mayra calls out of the blue to invite Ingrid to a weekend getaway at a house in the Everglades, she impulsively accepts.

From the moment Ingrid sets out, danger looms: The directions are difficult, she’s out of reach of cell service, and as she drives deeper into the Everglades, the wet maw of the swamp threatens to swallow her whole. But once Ingrid arrives, Mayra is, in many ways, just as she remembers—with her sharp tongue and effortless, seductive beauty, still thumbing her nose at the world.

Before they can fully settle into the familiar intimacy of each other’s company, their reunion is spoiled by the reemergence of past disagreements and the unexpected presence of Mayra’s new boyfriend, Benji. The trio spend their hours eating lavish meals and exploring the labyrinthine house, which holds as much mystery as the swamp itself. Indoors and on the grounds, time itself seems to expand, and Ingrid begins to lose a sense of the outside world, and herself.

Against this disquieting setting, where lizards dart in and out of porches and alligators peek from dark waters, Gonzalez weaves a surreal, unforgettable story about the dizzying power of early friendship and the lengths we’ll go to earn love and acceptance—even at the risk of losing ourselves entirely.

©2025 Nicky Gonzalez (P)2025 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“I ate this greedily; I swallowed it whole. Beguiling and moody and strange, Mayra shimmers with supernatural eeriness and the mercuriality of memory. Nicky Gonzalez unspools all the disorienting, lonely-making work of getting unstuck and finding home and bliss—then, she terrifies you. This is a mesmerizing, hallucinatory adrenaline rush of a novel.”—Claire Luchette, author of Agatha of Little Neon

“Ingrid and her charismatic childhood friend Mayra—described as ‘a kind of wild animal’—are planning a reunion. . . . Settle in for swamp flora that encroaches claustrophobically, ‘intestinal’ green snakes, and plenty of long-simmering antagonism between the two leads.”—Vulture

“Each page will haunt you.”—Debutiful

“A haunting hallucination . . . Mayra has shades of the Southern gothic, but ultimately crafts its own uniquely Florida gothic. This fan of Shirley Jackson devoured this.”—The Southern Bookseller Review