Anita de Monte Laughs Last: Complete People‑First Book Guide

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Quick Facts

• Author: Xóchitl González
• Publication year: 2023
• Genre: Contemporary literary fiction
• Setting: New York City (1985, 1998); Providence, Rhode Island (Brown University); Cuba; Madrid; London
• Narrator: Third‑person limited, alternating perspectives — Anita de Monte (as ghost), Raquel Toro, and Jack Martin

Short Summary

In 1985, Cuban‑American artist Anita de Monte is murdered by her husband, the celebrated sculptor Jack Martin. Decades later, first‑generation Puerto Rican art‑history student Raquel Toro discovers that Anita’s work has been deliberately erased from the canon. As Raquel researches Anita’s life and legacy, she begins to challenge the institutional bias she herself faces at Brown University. Meanwhile, Anita’s ghost haunts Jack, attacks his collaborators, and eventually finds purpose in protecting Raquel. The novel intertwines two timelines — Anita’s rise and fall in the 1980s and Raquel’s coming‑of‑age in the late 1990s — to expose how art worlds silence women of color and how legacy can be reclaimed through defiance and solidarity.

Full Summary

Part One – The Night of the Party (1985)

The novel opens with Anita de Monte at a party hosted by powerful art dealer Tilly Barber. Anita has secretly secured a solo show in Rome, but her husband Jack Martin belittles her success. When Anita sees Jack with another woman, she transmutes her rage into joy and dances exuberantly, her silver‑sequin dress becoming a symbol of her defiance. That night she falls (or is pushed) from a window and dies. Everyone remembers her laughing and dancing.

Part Two – Raquel’s World (1998)

At Brown University, Raquel Toro wins a curatorial fellowship but feels like an outsider among wealthy white students. She begins dating Nick Fitzsimmons, a privileged sculptor whose family represents the art‑world elite Raquel struggles to navigate. A dinner with Nick’s mother reveals that Anita de Monte is dismissed as “a pushy Cuban thing.” Raquel starts to investigate Anita’s life after learning that Jack Martin was tried for murder — a fact omitted from her art‑history courses.

Part Three – Anita’s Afterlife (1985–2000)

Anita’s ghost emerges under a ceiba tree on a Cuban beach. She learns that people summon her by discussing her art with emotion. She gains the power to become a bat and physically attack those who erase her: she shatters Tilly’s glass, appears bloody before Jack, and modifies his sculptures. Yet time and again, Jack and Tilly buy up and store her work, suppressing her legacy. Anita cycles between rage and depression.

Part Four – Raquel’s Awakening (1998–1999)

Raquel’s relationship with Nick grows controlling: he cuts her hair without consent and orders for her at restaurants. After a spiritual cleansing performed by her roommate’s aunt, Raquel begins to trust her own instincts. She confronts Professor John Temple about omitting Jack’s violence from lectures and proposes a thesis on Anita’s influence on Jack’s work. Supported by curator Belinda Kim, Raquel discovers an Anita de Monte land‑art piece at RISD and ends her relationship with Nick when he refuses to leave Tilly’s gallery.

Part Five – Reclamation (1999–2000)

Raquel delivers her honors thesis, winning the Department Chair’s Prize and a co‑authored Art in America feature. She declines grad school for a writing job in Brooklyn. Nick’s mother sends Raquel an early Anita de Monte photograph, which Raquel keeps as a reminder of her own worth. Meanwhile, Anita’s ghost appears at a party, chases Jack intending to kill him, but stops — tired of vengeance. Her art has been restored by Raquel, lessening her anger. Anita transitions from vengeful spirit to protective guardian, helping Raquel with small acts (like bringing a mouse). The novel ends with Raquel embracing a fresh start and Anita’s legacy finally receiving recognition.

Main Characters

• Anita de Monte – A rising Cuban‑American artist in the 1980s who is murdered by her husband; returns as a ghost who haunts her erasure and eventually becomes a protective spirit.
• Raquel Toro – A first‑generation Puerto Rican art‑history student at Brown who uncovers Anita’s erased work and uses her thesis to reclaim the artist’s legacy.
• Jack Martin – A celebrated minimalist sculptor who murders Anita and spends decades suppressing her art while being haunted by her ghost.
• Nick Fitzsimmons – A white, privileged sculptor and Raquel’s controlling boyfriend who embodies the art‑world elitism she must overcome.
• Tilly Barber – A powerful art dealer who manages Jack’s career and actively participates in erasing Anita’s legacy.
• John Temple – Raquel’s art‑history professor who initially omits Jack’s murder trial from his lectures and later supports her thesis.

Themes

Symbols

Ending Overview

In spring 2000, Anita haunts a party at Tilly’s loft. She chases Jack to a staircase intending to push him to his death, but stops — tired of vengeance. Her art has been restored by Raquel, lessening her anger. Anita stops active haunting, visits her sister and niece, and uses her ghostly powers to help Raquel (e.g., bringing a mouse as thanks). Raquel delivers her honors thesis, wins the Department Chair’s Prize, secures a writing job in Brooklyn, and receives an early Anita de Monte photograph from Nick’s mother. The novel ends with Raquel embracing second chances and Anita’s legacy finally being recognized.

Chapter‑by‑Chapter Overview

Common Questions and Answers

1. What is Anita de Monte Laughs Last about?

It follows two artists: Anita de Monte, a Cuban‑American sculptor murdered in 1985, and Raquel Toro, a Puerto Rican art‑history student who reclaims Anita’s erased legacy two decades later.

2. How does Anita de Monte die?

Her husband Jack throws her out their apartment window after she announces she will divorce him and take half his money.

3. Why was Anita’s work erased from art history?

Jack Martin and his dealer Tilly Barber used their power to cancel exhibitions, buy up her pieces, and bury them in storage. The art‑world press also dismissed her as “a pushy Cuban thing.”

4. Who is Raquel Toro?

A first‑generation Puerto Rican student at Brown University. She researches Anita’s life, challenges the omission of Jack’s murder trial from her courses, and writes an award‑winning thesis on Anita’s influence.

5. What role does Nick Fitzsimmons play?

He is Raquel’s boyfriend, a privileged sculptor. He controls Raquel (cutting her hair without consent, ordering for her) and embodies the elitism she must reject.

6. How does the novel end?

Raquel wins her thesis prize and moves to Brooklyn for a writing job. Anita stops seeking vengeance and becomes a protective guardian, sending small signs to Raquel.

7. What does the ceiba tree symbolize?

It is a portal between the living world and Anita’s afterlife, rooted in Afro‑Cuban tradition. It represents spiritual connection, rebirth, and the way memory can be summoned.

8. What theme connects Anita and Raquel?

Both face erasure — Anita as a murdered artist, Raquel as a working‑class Latina in elite academia. The novel argues that solidarity and reclamation can overcome institutional silencing.

Deeper Dives

• Character profiles: Anita de Monte, Raquel Toro, Jack Martin, Nick Fitzsimmons, Tilly Barber, John Temple
• Themes: Erasure of women artists, class and privilege, identity and belonging, power and control, haunting and legacy
• Symbols: Silver sequins, bat, ceiba tree, “Graceland”
• Ending explained
• Questions and answers
• Quiz
• Essay prompts