This book is so visceral that it almost leaves a taste in your mouth: the metallic taste of blood most likely….
Violent and taut, it’s a book that is nevertheless easy to read thanks to the plot’s buoyancy and the book’s masterful prose. Its narrative intensity is unrelenting and matches its prose rhythm.
A beautifully written book that was originally inspired by a murder in Veracruz, this feverish tale of misogyny, homo and trans-phobia, fear, and superstition is hard to pin down. Narratively, you follow a few different threads and characters in the community as we look back at the murder victim. How did she (daughter of the local “witch”, a supposed witch herself) end up in the river? What has gone wrong with people that they have to resort to violence? What really went on at her house?
You go to some pretty dark places of abuse and sexual violence, but there’s also a humanity and moments of lightness that peak through. The tone is very earthy and matter-of-fact with neglect and sexual dynamics bursting out of the sides. It feels young and frenetic, yet also tempered by a documentarian’s distance.
The translation is masterful – the prose is dense and you can tell the original Mexican vernacular is its own tour de force. The language is almost a character in the book, muscling its way into the story.
It’s been made into a film and the book was first translated into German, winning translation prizes. I’d be curious to see the film…
One word: gutsy.
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