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A Novel
by Anamely Salgado Reyes
Three generations of fiercely strong and stubborn Mexican American women face grief head-on as they attempt to shed generational trauma and discover the true meaning of home in this lyrical novel that features magical realism in the tradition of The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina and The House of the Spirits.
For generations, the Olivares women have sought to control their daughters' destinies, starting with their names. In life, Olvido constantly clashed with her carefree daughter. Then teenage Angustias discovered she was pregnant and left her mother's home in search of her own. Ten years later, Felicitas finally meets her estranged grandmother and is terribly disappointed when Olvido is nothing like a grandmother should be. She is strict, cold, and…dead.
Now, Olvido is convinced the only way her spirit will cross over is if she resolves her unfinished business—to make sure Angustias is in a better place regarding family, job, husband, and God, but maybe not in that order—and Felicitas is the only person who can see or hear her. Heartbroken about her mother's passing and desperate to put Olvido's tiny Texas home in her rearview mirror as quickly as possible, Angustias doesn't understand why suddenly everyone in town seems to be conspiring to set her up with every eligible bachelor in town, offer her jobs, and invite her and Felicitas to church every Sunday.
As Olvido attempts to puppeteer her granddaughter to "fix" Angustias's life from beyond the grave, Angustias tries desperately to find a better place for Felicitas, and Felicitas struggles to keep her ability to see the dead a secret from Angustias, all three Olivares girls are forced to learn how to actually listen to one another, to work to overcome generations' worth of well-intentioned mistakes and learn the true definition of home.
"There is something so charming and moving about the Olivares girls. My Mother Cursed My Name is an absorbing and magical debut about the bonds of family and forging one's path in the world… even if that means more than a little guidance from the ancestors." —Kali Fajardo-Anstine, bestselling author Woman of Light and Sabrina & Corina
"My Mother Cursed My Name is a warm, witty and magical read about healing in order to forgive and forgiving in order to heal. Three generations of wildly different and fierce mothers and daughters tumbling toward a greater understanding of each other and themselves." —Parini Shroff, bestselling author of The Bandit Queens
"A powerful meditation on love and forgiveness with a lyricism that kept me spellbound. This novel explores the power of names and Anamely Salgado Reyes is a name to remember." —Steven Rowley, bestselling author of The Guncle
This information about My Mother Cursed My Name was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Anamely Salgado Reyes grew up on both sides of the Mexico and Texas border. Currently based in the Rio Grande Valley, she writes about what she cherishes most: family, friendship and finding magic in everyday life.
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