Author Cleyvis Natera joins Gracias, Come Again to talk about her second novel, The Grand Paloma Resort, a gripping story set in the Dominican Republic that explores sisterhood, class, tourism, labor, exploitation, poverty, and the hidden cost of luxury.

Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New York City, Cleyvis takes us inside the world of The Grand Paloma Resort, where tourists come for paradise, but the Dominican workers behind the scenes are the ones keeping that paradise alive.

The conversation also goes deeper into some of the book’s most uncomfortable and important themes, including crimes connected to tourism, tourists who travel to exploit vulnerable children, sex work surrounding hotels, poverty, and the circumstances that can push workers into degrading or dangerous situations simply to survive. Cleyvis and I also discuss the hotel workers and laborers across the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean whose work keeps the tourism industry thriving, even when they rarely get to experience the luxury they help create.

This is a conversation about far more than a book. It’s about Dominican identity, sisterhood, tourism, working-class women, exploitation, family, survival, and what really exists behind the beautiful resorts so many travelers never think twice about. We also get into Cleyvis Natera’s journey as an author, her Dominican roots, her life in New York, and how her own perspective helped shape this powerful story.