The Volcano Daughters begins in El Salvador in the early 1900’s during the dictatorship of president Maximiliano Hernández Martínez. Actually his name isn’t even worth mentioning as in the story, he is simply El Gran Pendejo or The General. The story opens just after Salvadoran soldiers massacre thousands of indigenous people who lived up in the mountains, and worked as bonded laborers in the coffee fields. By means of a Greek chorus of ghosts—Lourdes, María, Cora and Lucia—we learn they were a group of childhood friends who were left for dead, along with their friend Graciela who is the sole survivor. Years before, Graciela’s older sister Consuelo was forcefully taken from their mother, by their father, to live with him in the capital with his new wife. Their father Germán escaped the drudgery of farm work when a wealthy white man offered to send him to school in Switzerland. In time, strangely enough, he becomes a spiritual advisor, an oracle, to The General.

The ghosts having been deprived of life too early, “hitch a ride” on Graciela’s and Consuelo’s life threads, and follow along with them to the capital, into the diaspora, and all that follows for the rest of their lives. But our ghostly friends, also have another agenda, they “haunt” and whisper into Graciela’s ears encouraging her to write their story, the story of the volcano daughters.

Balibrera paints in broad strokes the history of El Salvador’s troubling times and how these women’s lives were affected and how they coped with the genocide, sociopolitical chaos during The General’s reign of terror and life in the diaspora. It was a bit of a stretch of the imagination where the author takes the sisters, once they escape the capitol, but I was up for the ride. Or was it a stretch? There wasn’t an author’s note indicating what was historical and where she took creative license and I felt like I needed more here. I grew to enjoy our Greek chorus of puckish ghosts which lightened up some of the heavier moments. Although, I did find the use of certain repetitive words or phrases rather annoying. Overall, I thought it was an engaging debut novel, which enlightened an important part of El Salvador’s history. I highly recommend it to those that want a compelling story of sisterhood and friendship, or fans of Central American culture, history, and magical realism.

“Water remembers. It is humans who forget.”

The earth is a closed system, therefore the total of premoridal waters that have ever existed, still exist in one form or another. Life in its most basic form is transformed in an everlasting cycle of life, death and renewal. Elif Shafak takes this tenant and weaves a beautiful and enchanting epic, There Are Rivers in the Sky.

The tale begins with a single droplet of water landing on the head of the ruthless, but erudite King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia in the ancient city of Nineveh. Ashurbanipal is remembered for his legendary library which fell into ruins with the demise of his reign. Out of its ashes emerge the blue fragments on which the Epic of Gilgamesh has been preserved. In parallel fashion, we piece together the story of three characters, their connection to two ancient bodies of water, traversing centuries, and cultures, all bound to a little blue tablet. In 1840, King Arthur of the Sewers and Slums, an archeologist, born on the banks of the Thames, gifted with an uncanny ability to decode ancient texts. In 2014, Narin is a Yazidi girl who comes from a line of water-dowsers. Born with a rare disorder that will leave her deaf, her grandmother seeks to have her baptized in the holy Valley of Lalish where they discover that Isis is systematically eradicating their people. The melancholic, Zaleekhah lives in on a houseboat in modern day London, and is a hydrologist studying a unique property of water.

Sure to become a modern classic, There Are Rivers in the Sky blends the story within a story Oriental structure, with Dickensian sensibilities and characters, and modern eco-political concerns. Suffice it to know that you will care deeply about the fate of these characters, relish the lyrical writing and have a new appreciation for the life giving element that is water.

TW: mental health issues, suicide, suicidal thoughts, sexual assault, murder, genocide

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You don’t have to be a Shakespeare scholar to throughly enjoy Jodi Picoult’s latest, By Any Other Name. When I was a college student many moons ago, I learned that there were scholars who challenged that William Shakespeare was the sole author of the works attributed to him. Notably, all of the hypothesized authors were men. Picoult presents a more recent view which maintains that a salon of authors, which included women, were responsible for the works accredited to the allonym Shakespeare.

By Any Other Name is a tale of two women playwrights, living centuries apart, pretending to be men, in an effort to negotiate a world dominated by men. The historical timeline is set in 1500’s Elizabethan England. Emilia is orphaned, sold by her family and trained to be a courtesan to the Lord Chamberlain, Henry Hunsdon. As a woman and a Jew of low birth, Emilia was expected to be grateful for the opportunity to be kept so well. In modern-day, Melina (Mel) lives in New York with her roommate Andre where she is still nursing the wound of an early rejection. In an effort to force Mel out of her inertia, Andre secretly submits her play to a writing competition.

The novel is part Shakespearean comedy, part tragedy, inclusive of a clever servant, mistaken identities, love obstacles, and witty wordplay. Scattered throughout the text were Shakespearean quotes and references which embed the reader in the debate at hand. I found myself more engaged with Emilia’s story than I was with Mel’s. I think this was in part because Picoult became too heavy handed for my reading tastes. Nevertheless, I would highly recommend By Any Other Name to fans of the theater, The Bard, and women’s recovered history and contribution to the arts.

TW: domestic violence, sexual assault, unwanted pregnancy, pregnancy complications

I can’t say enough about Chris Whitaker’s new release - All the Colors of the Dark. It is so many things - quietly beautiful and deep, haunting, dark, bright and hopeful. It’s an unputdownable coming of age tale, a buddy story, a serial killer mystery, and an epic drama about love and obsession. All the Colors of the Dark is storytelling at its best - finely drawn characters you won’t soon forget and a plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Here’s the set up. It’s 1975, in the small town of Monta Claire, Missouri and girls have gone missing. Patch, a poor one-eyed boy, who thinks he’s a pirate, and Saint, a beekeeper raised by her grandmother, are outsiders. They form a quick and long lasting friendship which will span decades and be tried by circumstance. Everything changes when Patch becomes the unlikely hero who thwarts the kidnapping of a local girl and is taken instead. He is held captive in a dark room. There he meets Grace, a voice in the dark, his angel and savior. But does she really exist? Patch believes she does, and he will stop at nothing to track down his capture and find the girl he loves.

Trigger Warnings: violence, abuse, predatory behaviors, captivity

Narrator: Bushra Rehman
Length: 9 hours, 22 minutes

Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion is a beautifully written, character driven, coming of age story. Razia is a young first generation American daughter of Pakistani immigrants. In snatches of memory we witness the girl grow up in 1980’s Queens. More specifically Corona, a neighborhood Paul Simon memorializes in his song Me and Julio Down By the School Yard. This and other songs provide the playlist and subtext of the young protagonist’s life. Razia is an imaginative and bright child and is given the opportunity to attend a prestigious prep school in Manhattan. Her parent are wary, and the aunties warn of trouble, but they eventually relent. Along the way, childhood friendships are tested, some strengthen, others broken. Not surprisingly, as Razia’s world begins to expand, she feels the constraints of her parents’ strictures, faith teachings and ever watchful community. The reader will cheer on her small rebellions as well as feel the pending danger of discovery as she struggles with her sexual identity and finds queer love. Soon enough, Razia will be faced with the biggest decision of her life.

Bushara Rehman, the author, narrates the audiobook. The richness and rhythm of her speech make each character distinct and the story memorable. Her reading brings depth and heart into the story and I look forward to her next audiobook release!

The patriarch of this tight knit but imperfect family is on his death bed. The family Izquierdo reflects on the past that has made them who they are, the present which at times seems clear but incomprehensible, and of their hopes for future generations. The book is told as a collection of vignettes, which are intended to be experienced as if you are part of the family, sharing in the intimate stories, oral history and mythology of the Izquierdo’s. These are heartfelt tales of fortitude and resilience, successes and misfortunes, betrayals and forgiveness, miracles and curses as seen through the eyes of various family members. But mostly, these narratives are about the love that endures and binds them to one another.

In the author’s acknowledgements, he gives “thanks to the first people who lived in what we now call the Río Grande Valley of Texas, the Mexican Americans who lived here when it was still the country of their birth, and those who came after when it wasn’t.” These are stories that warmed my heart, made me laugh and deserve to be told. Reading parts of The Family Izquierdo made me feel nostalgic for an earlier time in my life. I felt like I was sitting around my mother’s table with all the tias making tortillas and spilling the latest family gossip, while my father and tios fired up the grill in the back yard. The stories, places, language, music and supernatural tales all felt like home. If these are not your roots, Degollado has opened the door for you and welcomes you to the table.