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Reviews by Mary Ann

The Volcano Daughters: A Novel
by Gina María Balibrera

The journey of two El Salvadoran sisters before and after the time of The Massacre (9/9/2024)

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 …more 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. (less)

There Are Rivers in the Sky: A Novel
by Elif Shafak

What if water had memory? (8/21/2024)

“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 …more

By Any Other Name: A Novel
by Jodi Picoult

The plight of women writers, no matter the era (8/21/2024)

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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 …more

All the Colors of the Dark
by Chris Whitaker

Epic drama you won’t soon forget. (6/22/2024)

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 …more

Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion: A Novel
by Bushra Rehman

A coming of age story in 1980’s in a New York multicultural neighborhood. (12/6/2022)

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 …more

The Family Izquierdo: A Novel
by Rubén Degollado

Perfect Read for Hispanic Heritage Month (9/14/2022)

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 …more

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