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A lawyer and her elderly great-aunt use their supernatural gifts to find a lost child in this richly imagined and empowering story of motherhood, magic, and legacy in the vein of The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina and La Hacienda. If you call to the witches, they will come. 1943, El Paso, teenager Nena spends her days caring for the small children of her older sisters, while longing for a life of freedom and adventure. The premonitions and fainting spells she has endured since childhood are getting worse, and Nena worries she’ll end up like the scary old curandera down the street. Nena prays for help, and when the mysterious Sister Benedicta arrives late one night, Nena follows her across the borders of space and time. In colonial Mexico, Nena grows into her power, finding love and learning that magic always comes with a price. In the present day, Nena’s grandniece, Marta, balances a struggling legal aid practice with motherhood and the care of the now ninety-three-year-old Nena. When Marta agrees to help search for a daughter Nena left in the past, the two forge a fierce connection. Marta’s own supernatural powers emerge, awakening her to new possibilities that threaten the life she has constructed.
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“You know how things are in El Paso. Everyone is connected somehow.”
I’m not normally into witchy reads, but when I saw that this was set in El Paso, I was intrigued. If you enjoy witchy stories and reading about Hispanic culture, I recommend giving this one a try!
- The storylines and characters from each timeline were fun to read about. We follow Nena through El Paso in the 1940s and into colonial Mexico, as well as 90-year-old Nena and her grandniece Marta in the present day.
- If you’re from El Paso or have family there, I think you’ll enjoy the references: the Franklin Mountains, the Popular, and the alligators in San Jacinto Plaza, Scenic Drive, the politics of where you went to high school — even Chico’s Tacos gets a mention.
- There was quite a bit of Spanish and it wasn’t basic. If you’re not a native speaker, I’d go for a physical copy over the audiobook so you can look things up.
- I didn’t fully understand the magic system until the second half of the book, which made things a little confusing (Nuns in a convent? Who are witches?), but the magic in this book is a raw nature-like force that is both beautiful and terrifying at the same time, capable of healing and destruction.
This book also contains a quote I’ve heard a couple times in El Paso that made me lol:
“I don’t use lard, I use Crisco.”
Overall, this was a fun and unique witchy read that's perfect for spooky season.
*3.5 stars*
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