July 12, 2021
This radiant adult debut from Córdova (the Brooklyn Brujas YA series) follows the troubled Montoya family in the magical Midwestern town of Four Rivers. As the book opens, matriarch Orquídea Divina has just sent out wax-sealed, bird-delivered notices for her own funeral, inviting her children and grandchildren to “come and collect your inheritance.” Cousins Rey and Marimar set off from New York City; their cousin, the heavily pregnant Tatinelly, heeds the call from Olympia, Ore. With her family gathered around her, Orquídea enters a kind of magical earthly limbo and exhorts her progeny to “protect your magic.” Her warning remains mysterious until seven years later, when the Montoyas are pursued by a malevolent man who visits death and destruction on their extended family. To save themselves, Rey, Marimar, Tatinelly, and Tatinelly’s magically gifted seven-year-old, Rhiannon, trace Orquídea’s roots to Guayaquil, Ecuador, where she was born. While there’s not much momentum in the first act, this family saga acquires a thrillerlike tempo as the Montoyas draw closer to the mystery at the heart of Orquídea’s curse. The magic is vivid and yet familiar, and adds to the urgency of the plot. It adds up to an inspired and entertaining blend of magical realism and fantasy.
July 1, 2021
The latest from C�rdova (author of the Brooklyn Brujas series) is a spellbinding immigrant story that follows an Ecuadorian American family as they delve into their ancestry and roots. After members of the Montoya family receive a mysterious funeral invitation from their secretive matriarch, Orqu�dea Divina, they have few options but to head over to the mythical Four Rivers in search of answers and a potential inheritance. Their lives have always been surrounded by magic and the unexplained, but when grandma transforms into a tree, they're left even more baffled than before. Things take a dark turn as death rears its ugly head and Orqu�dea's surviving children and grandchildren start to die. Thus begins a quest to find answers about Orqu�dea and the powerful legacy she left behind between her homeland in Ecuador and her present home in the United States. Told in the past and present from multiple perspectives, this beautifully written generational novel full of magical realism will enchant fans of Isabel Allende, Gabriel Garc�a M�rquez, and Alice Hoffman.
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Starred review from December 1, 2021
One day a house occupied by Orqu�dea Divina suddenly appears near the town of Four Rivers. Her arrival leads the townspeople to believe she is a witch. Orqu�dea survives multiple husbands, raises nine children, helps care for some of her grandchildren, but never leaves town. One day, she sends invitations summoning her offspring home for her death. Only Orqu�eda doesn't die but instead transforms to the shock of her family, and leaves her granddaughter Marimar the property in Four Rivers. The narrative moves back and forth between Orqu�dea's childhood in Ecuador, her travels, and the bargain she made for magic, with that of her granddaughter Marirmar as she works to create a new life for herself restoring the family home. A mysterious figure stalks family members and a series of sudden deaths has Marimar, with her cousins Rey and Tatinelly, traveling to Ecuador to unravel Orqu�dea's past in a race to save the rest of the family. A tale of love, magic, adventure, and the general messiness of families with secrets written with descriptive prose evoking places and emotions vividly. VERDICT An absorbing read, full of lush writing and magical realism, this book will appeal to fans of Alice Hoffman and Isabella Allende. A great first purchase.-Tamara Saarinen, Pierce County Lib., WA
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