The Son of Good Fortune Summary
Lysley Tenorio

The Son of Good Fortune Overview

The Son of Good Fortune by Lysley Tenorio depicts Excel and Maxima Maximo who are an undocumented immigrant family in America, and the novel traces their experiences—and consequences--of hiding in plain sight. Excel has lived in Colma, California--a suburb of San Francisco, where Tenorio is based—for his entire life. When he returns to his hometown after a mysterious nine-month stint in the desert, he must endure the painful reminders of his past in order to map out his future. Tenorio’s debut novel navigates the coming-of-age of an undocumented Filipino son of a single mother, raising themes of identity, memory, and family through his protagonist’s accounts of his first venture away from home.