-The Arts Fuse
Dino Enrique Piacentini’s compelling debut novel, Invasion of the Daffodils (Astrophil Press, 263 pages) is an intergenerational tale of Mexican American families living on an island off the coast of California during the early ’50s. Self-consciously drawing on florid prose and macabre surrealism, the fable-like narrative centers on the trials and tribulations of a teenage boy, Chico Flores, who stumbles upon a crate filled with daffodil bulbs.
He and his brother sell off the stash of plants throughout the island. Before long, the shoots begin splintering rocks, porches, pipes, buildings, docks, even the church. The destruction disrupts the tourist economy, threatening the livelihood of the Italian business owners and bankers. What’s more, pollen from the flowers burns the skins of white inhabitants but the Mexican families find the daffodils fragrant, harvesting them for contraband — further deepening racial fissures.
The chaos generated by the mysterious bulbs serves as a backdrop for the drama of a young boy who is grappling with his gay sexuality. The teen’s domestic life is another challenge: he is living with his senile grandmother, ailing father, double amputee war veteran brother, who is dealing with PTSD, and a sister who works three jobs to support the family.
Not only is Chico blamed for unleashing horrific flowers, but his stumbling schoolboy desire adds to his isolation from others. Eventually, innuendo about his behavior escalates into violence. Still, despite poverty, racism, and homophobia, Piacentini’s characters are convincingly resilient and tenacious. Miraculously, they maintain hope in the future. The marauding wildflowers fade and wither away, but the lives on the island have been changed forever.
Piacentini teaches creative writing at the Lighthouse Writers Workshop and the University of Denver, and this novel, a colorful variation on magic realism, is an immersive read.