Sixteen-year-old Mina's mother is dead and her father--a magician who cut out her heart and replaced it with one made of glass--is cruel. When the two move to Whitespring Castle, Mina plans her escape in the arms of the king. She does not love him, but he is good and kind.
There was a moment near the end (that I won’t spoil for you) when I realized just how special In the Distance is, how much Diaz had played with our expectations, stretched the norms of storytelling, and created something totally unique. It’s a moment when (OK, a tiny spoiler) essentially nothing happens, but the way that nothing happens shows the real depth of Diaz’s novel.
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When Margot runs up some very unauthorized charges on her dad's credit card

she has to spend her summer working in his Bronx grocery store

instead of in the Hamptons with her private school friends.
