Spirits of the Ordinary: A Tale of Casas Grandes - Softcover

Alcalá, Kathleen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0156005689 ISBN 13: 9780156005685

Publisher: Mariner Books, 1998

Synopsis

This “strong and finely rendered book” (Larry McMurtry) takes us to the Mexican-american border in the 1870s, conjuring up a magical tale of faith, gold, and family passions that “echoes the style of Isabel Allende and Laura Esquivel” (Washington Post Book World). Winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award.

A spectacular tapestry of folklore, spirituality, and landscape, this extraordinary first novel vividly blurs fantasy and reality as it details one family's search for identity. In a small village in northern Mexico, the Carabajals have long been practicing their Jewish faith in secret. The father, Julio, spends his days dabbling with alchemy. His wife, Mariana, cannot speak but is clairvoyant. Their son has allied himself with a Catholic woman and is obsessed with his search for gold. Central to the surprising destinies of these characters are the momentous events and the ancient and sacred cliff dwellings of Casas Grandes, high in the mountains. This story of two cultures, of the elusive bonds of love and faith, is dazzling in its originality. It is for all readers who loved Allende's The House of Spirits or Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate.

About this title

Review:

Kathleen Alcalá's first novel, Spirits of the Ordinary, opens in 1870s Mexico where Zacarias Caraval abandons his family and the religion of his fathers--Judaism--to search for gold in the desert. His wife, Estela, responds by declaring herself independent and taking a lover--an action frowned upon in the small village of Saltillo. Zacarias's wanderings take him into the mountains of Northern Mexico and to the cliff dwellings of Casas Grandes, where he witnesses a massacre--an event that will have a profound affect on him and will eventually send him back to the faith he has abandoned. Spirits of the Ordinary is the first book of a projected trilogy and judging by the quality of Ms. Alcalá's work so far, the next two volumes will be eagerly awaited.

About the Author:

Kathleen Alcala is the author of Mrs. Vargas and the Dead Naturalist and Spirits of the Ordinary, a highly praised novel that received the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Assocaition Book Award.

About this edition

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0156005689
• ISBN 13: 9780156005685
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256