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Cuentos: From The South To The City
The American Dream demanded a journey. The city asked for a price.
In 1960s Texarkana, the King family is ruled by Mary Lee Payton, who runs a laundromat as a front for the brothel upstairs. Beth endures the worst of her mother's cruelty, her only escape a promise from Wilbur Parks, a scarred Korean War veteran.
Trading the segregated South for a fresh start, Beth and Wilbur join the great Exodus to California, raising their abundance of children in the promised land. Wilbur finds respect as a skilled mason and a devoted pastor, while Beth enforces a rigid discipline, determined to shield her family from harm.
Yet, the golden promises of the city are fragile. The King siblings struggle against invisible boundaries, and as they grow up, the lure of easy money and the power of the local gang, the Red Chilie Peppers, begin to pull them into darkness.
From the South to the City is a sweeping, heartbreaking saga that charts the pursuit of a better life and the devastating cost of generational trauma. The journey to California was just the beginning. Can the King family’s faith and love survive the ultimate reckoning, or will their American Dream be lost in the shadows of the city's unforgiving streets?
In 1960s Texarkana, the King family is ruled by Mary Lee Payton, who runs a laundromat as a front for the brothel upstairs. Beth endures the worst of her mother's cruelty, her only escape a promise from Wilbur Parks, a scarred Korean War veteran.
Trading the segregated South for a fresh start, Beth and Wilbur join the great Exodus to California, raising their abundance of children in the promised land. Wilbur finds respect as a skilled mason and a devoted pastor, while Beth enforces a rigid discipline, determined to shield her family from harm.
Yet, the golden promises of the city are fragile. The King siblings struggle against invisible boundaries, and as they grow up, the lure of easy money and the power of the local gang, the Red Chilie Peppers, begin to pull them into darkness.
From the South to the City is a sweeping, heartbreaking saga that charts the pursuit of a better life and the devastating cost of generational trauma. The journey to California was just the beginning. Can the King family’s faith and love survive the ultimate reckoning, or will their American Dream be lost in the shadows of the city's unforgiving streets?
207 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 11, 2025
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1478 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 17, 2025
I enjoyed Cuentos, but it is a very sad and heavy book. The story feels painfully real, with well-written, believable characters and a plot that reflects the struggles of families trying to survive and find stability.
The novel follows the King family as they move from the rural South, where they are barely making a living, to San Francisco, hoping for a better life — only to find that they still can’t seem to get ahead. The children suffer the most, caught between worlds, feeling like outsiders and doing whatever they can to fit in, even when those choices aren’t good for them. That aspect of the story was especially heartbreaking.
While the writing and themes are strong, there were several confusing moments. At times, the story briefly introduces children or situations that hadn’t been mentioned before and aren’t referenced again, which pulled me out of the narrative. There was more than one instance like this, and it made the book harder to follow at points.
Overall, Cuentos is a well-written and emotionally honest novel, but it is not a feel-good read. It’s a story about hardship, displacement, and the lasting impact of struggle — powerful, but often difficult to get through. #GoodreadsGiveaways
The novel follows the King family as they move from the rural South, where they are barely making a living, to San Francisco, hoping for a better life — only to find that they still can’t seem to get ahead. The children suffer the most, caught between worlds, feeling like outsiders and doing whatever they can to fit in, even when those choices aren’t good for them. That aspect of the story was especially heartbreaking.
While the writing and themes are strong, there were several confusing moments. At times, the story briefly introduces children or situations that hadn’t been mentioned before and aren’t referenced again, which pulled me out of the narrative. There was more than one instance like this, and it made the book harder to follow at points.
Overall, Cuentos is a well-written and emotionally honest novel, but it is not a feel-good read. It’s a story about hardship, displacement, and the lasting impact of struggle — powerful, but often difficult to get through. #GoodreadsGiveaways
February 21, 2026
I won this beautifully written book in the kindle version of the Goodreads giveaway. This was my first book to read of Keiarra Ortiz-Cedeno.
This was a an all encompassing , heartbreaking saga that follows the King family's journey from the segregated South to California in search of a better life. Being from Arkansas myself it had me invested immediately due to the story starting in Texarkana.
The adversity that this family endures pursuing the American dream for a better life for their family is heartbreaking, frustrating, and at times depressing. It pushes the test of one’s faith, family, love, and survival for the life they lived and the choices they make that affects all their lives. The choice to be hopeless or hopeful was one they each had to make given their circumstances and choices made.
This was a an all encompassing , heartbreaking saga that follows the King family's journey from the segregated South to California in search of a better life. Being from Arkansas myself it had me invested immediately due to the story starting in Texarkana.
The adversity that this family endures pursuing the American dream for a better life for their family is heartbreaking, frustrating, and at times depressing. It pushes the test of one’s faith, family, love, and survival for the life they lived and the choices they make that affects all their lives. The choice to be hopeless or hopeful was one they each had to make given their circumstances and choices made.
November 14, 2025
I ‘won’ this book thru Goodreads giveaways. Unlike other books, this one follows a family from the South, Cuentos is the story moving to California, looking for a better life. Tells of hope, work, challenges, and, as the author says, stories from her life. I wish the author spent more time in each period, as it spans almost 20 years.
December 11, 2025
This story follows Beth from the time she works for her mother in the families laundromat through her time on a Pecan farm and to California.. The author writes the novel in a very haunting way. You can feel Beth’s pain and grief as she moves through each stage of life but you are also given snapshots of Joy and peace.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews