Summary

The novel opens with Reyna, the main protagonist, as she tells the story of her eccentric Aunt Kiki who, in her early twenties, ran off to Istanbul, fell in love with a Turkish carpet seller, got married, and eight years later came back home, divorced, saying very little of what happened.

Reyna lives in Harlem and works as a secretary at a veterinary clinic. She has a four-year-old son, Oliver, and a boyfriend she loves, Boyd, who is serving time in Rikers for selling marijuana. When Hurricane Sandy strikes New York, Reyna finds herself reconnecting with her aunt. Reyna is similar to Kiki in that she left home at 18 and also has an estranged relationship with her family. They never approved of her boyfriends.

Reyna goes to check on her aunt after the hurricane strikes to find she has no electricity. Her aunt, however...