Cassara, Joseph: The House of Impossible Beauties

It‘s 1980 in New York City, and nowhere is the city‘s glamour and energy better reflected than in the burgeoning Harlem ball scene, where seventeenyear-old Angel first comes into her own. Burned by her traumatic past, Angel has a yearning to help create a family for those without. When she falls in love with Hector, the two decide to form the House of Xtravaganza, the first ever all-Latino house in the ball circuit. Into the house come Venus, Juanito, and Daniel, each of whom has their own story to tell. The Xtravaganzas must learn to navigate sex work, addiction and persistent abuse, leaning on each other as bulwarks against a world that resists them. All are ambitious, resilient and determined to control their own fates, even as they hurtle toward devastating consequences. Told in a voice that brims with wit, rage, tenderness, and fierce yearning, The House of Impossible Beauties is a tragic story of love, family, and the dynamism of the human spirit.