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shespeaksinsongs · 2 months

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Too gringa, demasiada latina

When I say I’m from Venezuela, sometimes people misunderstand me.

“Minnesota? Oh, cool! I hear it’s nice there this time of year.”

I fight the urge to roll my eyes, because

I wouldn’t want to meet the stereotype of being “feisty,”

(Not that there’s anything wrong with that, Sofia Vergara)

and I repeat.

Other times, they look at me through furrowed brows,

Unaware that there are countries that speak Spanish other than

Mexico and Spain.

They tell me to prove it, but how?

How do I prove wearing yellow underwear every New Year’s Eve,

For good luck?

Where are the records saying that

I am a certified quinceañera?

Who documents how often I eat

Arepas?

Where are the diary entries from the week that I spent,

Pent up in my room,

Afraid that la llorona would get me at night?

And even though they wouldn't know a thing,

About how it feels to have your identity constantly questioned,

I worry that they're right.

I can’t recite the Venezuelan anthem like my dad proudly does, before each fútbol game,

I can’t bake a quesillo like my mom does, for each birthday.

And if you asked me what “carcacha,” meant, I couldn’t tell you,

But I could sing that song by Selena if you needed me to.

After my parents are gone,

And all that is left of them is my Spanish and my drooping nose,

Who will carry their legacy?

Most days,

When it is dark and everyone else is asleep,

I ask my ceiling what language my children will speak,

And if they will be able to dance salsa,

Or if they will know what a torta de guayaba tastes like,

Or if they will ever be able to gaze up at the billowing yellow, blue, and red flag,

Complete with eight stars for the eight provinces,

(Barcelona, Barinas,

Caracas, Cumaná,

Guayana, Margarita

Mérida, and Trujillo)

and be able to say,

“That’s mine - es mi país.”

I wonder if they will see this all and grasp it -

Hold it in the palm of their hands,

Or if they will be just as lost as I am.

guys this was my first poem on here!! i wrote it for my english class. the theme was identity. i hope you like this, and even more, if you can relate to this, i hope i could give you at least the smallest bit of comfort. my dm's are always open if you want to discuss these kinds of things... and even if you don't - they're still open <3 i love chatting, so text me!

my biggest thank you's to @definitelymustard and @marcela6malfoy for proof-reading and critiquing! <33

shespeaksinsongs ©

#hispanic #poetry #writeblr #creative writing #venezuelan american #hispanic heritage #latina #latino #hispanic authors

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385bookreviews · 5 months

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1.128.2 The First To Die At The End

SPOILERS (for TFTDATE and TBDATE)

Pages: 550

Read Time: 4 hours and 44 minutes

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ Storyline: ★★★★☆ Dialogue: ★★★☆☆ Characters: ★★★★☆

Genre: YA Fiction and Romance

TWs for the book: Death, domestic abuse, death of a parent, 9/11, gun violence, homophobia, grief, physical abuse, violence, medical content, chronic/terminal illness, blood, organ donation, car accident, emotional abuse, cursing, toxic relationship, religious bigotry, mass shooting, child abuse, s*x, infidelity, misogyny, alcoholism, mental illness, discussions of su*c*de, injury detail

POV: First person POV of Orion and Valentino; third person POV of Joaquin, Dalma, Gloria, Frankie, Scarlett, Paz, Mateo, Rufus, Clint, Rolando, Captain Harry, Férnan, Naya, William, and Andrea.

Time Period/Location: New York City from July 30, 2010 to August 1, 2010.

First Line: 10:10 p.m. Death-Cast might call at midnight, but it won't be the first time someone tells me I'm going to die.

The First To Die At The End opens in the same universe we see in They Both Die At The End, except on the very first day of Death-Cast being launched. Signed up for the service and ready to know his fate, Orion, a teenager with a chronic heart condition, waits with his adopted sister Dalma at the launch party in Times Square. Here he meets Valentino, a young model who just moved to New York after being treated cruelly by his homophobic parents. He has just moved into his apartment and met his mean and deceptive landlord Frankie, and is waiting on his twin sister Scarlett to arrive the next day. Orion introduces himself to Valentino in an attempt to flirt, and in the process convinces him to sign up for Death-Cast. Valentino is sure he won't receive a call, as he has so much to live for, while Orion is sure that he will, as he lives everyday uncertain if he will make it to tomorrow. However, when Death-Cast launches at midnight, Valentino is the one to receive the call that he will die today, made by the creator of Death-Cast, Joaquin Rosa himself. Immediately after his call, a gunman opens fire in Times Square. Orion tackles him out of the way and saves his life, but it causes him to have a heart attack. Dalma and Valentino rush him to the hospital where Valentino decides that if he is going to die today, he wants to donate his heart to Orion. In gratitude, Orion decides to show Valentino around the city for his End Day. At Death-Cast, Joaquin discovers that people are starting to die without their End Day calls, one of them being a photographer named William, even though they were signed up for the service. He goes to fix the problem and while he is gone, one of the Heralds (people who make the End Day calls) named Rolando quits.

Valentino and Orion go to a modeling shoot first thing in the morning that Valentino was supposed to do, but the photographer, William, died the night before in the shooting so it's postponed. They also find out that Scarlett's flight has been cancelled because the Captain got a call from Death-Cast and then subsequently had a heart attack. She manages to get another, but it will only be coming later in the day. Orion and Valentino decide to go a purchase a camera from a pawn shop, where they unknowingly meet Férnan, the husband of the doctor who plans to do Orion's transplant, and his son Rufus, who we later see as the main character in They Both Die At The End. Orion and Valentino spend the day traveling through New York City, visiting Times Square again, seeing a secret subway station, visiting a park, visiting the construction of the 9/11 memorial (where Orion's parents died), and walking across a bridge, where they confess their feelings for each other and kiss. Scarlett calls and lets them know that all flights out of Phoenix have been cancelled and she won't be able to make it to New York before Valentino dies. It is also announced by Joaquin that there is one Decker out there who hasn't received their End Day call but will die. While at Times Square for the second time, Valentino and Orion encounter a young Mateo, who we also see again as a main character in They Both Die At The End.

Meanwhile, Rolando, who is a friend of his wife Gloria, is harassed by Valentino's landlord Frankie for the names of the first Deckers (people who received their End Day call) as he wants to photograph their deaths and then sell the pictures for money. Rolando tells him that Valentino is one of them, and Frankie spends the day waiting for Valentino to come home. Rolando then decides to find the old man that was his first call, Clint, and try to spend some time with him before he dies. They meet in a coffee shop, and Clint tells Rolando to not let things go unsaid to the people he loves most. Rolando then meets up with Gloria, Frankie's wife, who is his best friend and also the girl who got away. They have lunch and then take her son Paz to the park to play, where Rolando tells Gloria that she should leave Frankie, not to be with him, but so that way she can be there for her son to grow up, as Frankie is abusive and will most likely one day kill her. Gloria decides that he is right, and they go to tell Frankie that she wants a divorce.

Orion decides to take Valentino to his home to meet his adoptive family where they accept him with open arms. They then have s*x, and while Orion is in the shower, Valentino records a message to his sister for after he has died. He also calls his parents, and while they don't have anything to say to him, Valentino finally stands up for himself. Orion's adopted family then plans to drive them to the hospital after stopping at Valentino's apartment first, but when they arrive, they hear fighting. Gloria is telling Frankie she wants a divorce, and Frankie then proceeds to attack Rolando and then Gloria. Valentino rushes to Gloria's defense, but Frankie throws Valentino and Orion down the steps. Paz finds Frankie's gun and shoots him to death, making Frankie the final Decker to die without a call. Orion and his family rush Valentino to the hospital but he is pronounced brain dead. Orion is devastated but the heart transplant is able to move forward this way, and it all goes well. Orion is left grieving, but him and Dalma are able to make a new friendship with Valentino's sister Scarlett, and Orion is able to watch the video that Valentino secretly recorded for him.

Orion Pagan: Orion has lived with grief his whole life, first for his parents when they died during 9/11, then for his life and the stories he writes after being diagnosed with a heart condition, and finally for Valentino and the life they could have had together. He still manages to remain a deeply empathetic and upbeat person despite all of this, and you can definitely see how Valentino falls for him. I also love the contrast between him and Valentino, as Valentino thought he had his whole life ahead of him but then had to live like he was dying, while Orion was already living every day like he was dying, but then was suddenly able to live freely.

Valentino Prince: Valentino's entire story was tragic. He was never able to be himself and had parents who didn't accept him as he was, and then when he finally has the chance to live freely and be himself and meet his goals, he is told he is going to die. While he does grieve this, he never becomes hateful, and chooses to make his life mean something anyways by donating his heart to Orion and trying to save Gloria's life.

Storyline: It was a little all over the place with the switching POVs, but I honestly really loved the way all the characters overlapped and interacted with each other and impacted each others lives, subtly or otherwise, throughout the story. I loved getting to watch Valentino and Orion fall in love, even though you knew it wasn't going to end well, which made it all the more powerful. The addition of Rufus and Mateo as children really tied everything together, and to find out that they briefly interacted as children once, and also that Dalma was the creator of the app Rufus and Mateo met each other on was really cool.

Representation: Valentino and Orion are both gay, and Mateo and Rufus are both gay. Adam Silvera has created a knock off Harry Potter series to reference throughout his books called the Scorpius Hawthorne series, and he says that the author is a queer trans woman, which is a nice slap in the face to J triple K Rowling. It is alluded that Paz is either going to grow up to be gay or trans (and Adam Silvera hinted on Instagram that he is going to be a main character in the next book). Most of the characters in this book are either African American or Hispanic, Orion, Frankie, and Joaquin being Puerto Rican for example. Orion has viral cardiomyopathy.

Summary: While the writing style and dialogue isn't always my favorite, there are a lot of powerful lines and commentary in this book. It also is really cool to me that while Adam Silvera names the books after what is going to happen at the end, and you know from the start what the end game is going to be, you still root for these characters and hope and pray that maybe he lied and they'll all live happily ever after. You still grieve their deaths and get attached to them even though you know from the start that they're going to die. He also explores a lot of interesting concepts and such as grief, death, and the meaning of life itself in such a casual way that it catches you off guard.

Quotes: "I understand that the person who gets the Death-Cast call isn't the only one dying. If you really hold someone in your heart, you die too."-Orion (p. 50) "I'll speak to my parents if I have something to gain. But I owe myself peace more than I owe them anything."-Valentino (p. 359) "I'm done playing this shit where we got to be nice to the people who hate on us for how we love. They're the reasons why we got it so hard, why we lock away our feelings even though it means we'll die without knowing the happiness that comes to others so easily."-Orion (p. 373) "...I'm going to spend what's left of my life with him even if that means I'm going to hell when it's all done."-Valentino (p. 458)

#book review #book blog #books #gay #lgbt #lgbtq #book reviews #the first to die at the end #adam silvera #they both die at the end #ya fiction #ya romance #ya books #lgbtq books #diverse books #hispanic authors

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bardessofcerridwen · 7 months

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#hispanic heritage month #Hispanic authors #books #witchy books

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rockislandadultreads · 2 years

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Hispanic Heritage Month: Literary Fiction Picks

It Would Be Night in Caracas by Karina Sainz Borgo, Elizabeth Bryer (Translation)

In Caracas, Venezuela, Adelaida Falcon stands over an open grave. Alone, except for harried undertakers, she buries her mother–the only family Adelaida has ever known. Numb with grief, Adelaida returns to the apartment they shared. Outside the window that she tapes shut every night—to prevent the tear gas raining down on protesters in the streets from seeping in. When looters masquerading as revolutionaries take over her apartment, Adelaida resists and is beaten up. It is the beginning of a fight for survival in a country that has disintegrated into violence and anarchy, where citizens are increasingly pitted against each other. But as fate would have it, Adelaida is given a gruesome choice that could secure her escape. Filled with riveting twists and turns, and told in a powerful, urgent voice, It Would Be Night in Caracas is a chilling reminder of how quickly the world we know can crumble.

The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Michael Zapata

In 1929 in New Orleans, a Dominican immigrant named Adana Moreau writes a science fiction novel. The novel earns rave reviews, and Adana begins a sequel. Then she falls gravely ill. Just before she dies, she destroys the only copy of the manuscript. Decades later in Chicago, Saul Drower is cleaning out his dead grandfather’s home when he discovers a mysterious manuscript written by none other than Adana Moreau. With the help of his friend Javier, Saul tracks down an address for Adana’s son in New Orleans, but as Hurricane Katrina strikes, they must head to the storm-ravaged city for answers. What results is a brilliantly layered masterpiece—an ode to home, storytelling and the possibility of parallel worlds.

Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea, Enrique Hubbard Urrea (Translator)

Nineteen-year-old Nayeli works at a taco shop in her Mexican village and dreams about her father, who journeyed to the United States to find work. Recently, it has dawned on her that he isn't the only man who has left town. In fact, there are almost no men in the village--they've all gone north. While watching The Magnificent Seven, Nayeli decides to go north herself and recruit seven men--her own "Siete Magníficos"--to repopulate her hometown and protect it from the bandidos who plan on taking it over. Filled with unforgettable characters and prose as radiant as the Sinaloan sun, Into the Beautiful North is the story of an irresistible young woman's quest to find herself on both sides of the fence.

Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago

As a young girl growing up in Spain, Ana Larragoity Cubillas is powerfully drawn to Puerto Rico by the diaries of an ancestor who traveled there with Ponce de León. And in handsome twin brothers Ramón and Inocente—both in love with Ana—she finds a way to get there. She marries Ramón, and in 1844, just eighteen, she travels across the ocean to a remote sugar plantation the brothers have inherited on the island. Ana faces unrelenting heat, disease and isolation, and the dangers of the untamed countryside even as she relishes the challenge of running Hacienda los Gemelos. But when the Civil War breaks out in the United States, Ana finds her livelihood, and perhaps even her life, threatened by the very people on whose backs her wealth has been built: the hacienda’s slaves, whose richly drawn stories unfold alongside her own. And when at last Ana falls for a man who may be her destiny—a once-forbidden love—she will sacrifice nearly everything to keep hold of the land that has become her true home. This is a sensual, riveting tale, set in a place where human passions and cruelties collide: thrilling history that has never before been brought so vividly and unforgettably to life.

#Fiction #Adult Fiction #literature #modern literature #literary #literary fiction #to read #tbr #hispanic heritage month #hispanic characters #Hispanic Authors #booklr #book tumblr #book blog #to be read #reading recommendations #Book Recommendations #library books

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bookaddict24-7 · 9 months

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AUTHOR FEATURE:

﹒Reyna Grande﹒

Five Books Written By this Author:

The Distance Between Us

Across A Hundred Mountains

A Dream Called Home

A Ballad of Love and Glory

Dancing with Butterflies

___

Happy reading!

#author features #books #bookish #booklr #bookworm #bookaholic #bibliophile #book blog #book blogger #Features #on books #on reading #diversify your shelves #book list #Reyna Grande #hispanic authors

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cupofteajones · 1 year

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Something "Witchy" This Way Comes...

Something “Witchy” This Way Comes…

Are you fascinated with witchcraft and the supernatural? I always thought that the portrayals of witches were more than just broomsticks flying and pointy hats. The history of witchcraft and how society has perceived witches and it is surprising nothing has changed that much. Reading about witches and the history behind is something that should be done all year round but it is done most…

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shy-forceghost · 2 years

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I feel so happy seeing hundreds of amazing books on Goodreads' "Hispanic Heritage Month" compilation. Secondary school me had to go trough mandatory readings (i.e. "the classics") written -mostly- by white people, and the ones written by Hispanic authors didn't reflect most of our experiences and realities; but were filled with violence, sexism and prejudices. Seeing books whose authors and character's names sound like mines', whose experiences remind me of my own's, and that portray stories that show us, Hispanics, as people with a plethora of experiences in a variety of contexts, is something that makes me so, so grateful for these authors for not only giving, but regaining our voice.

#goodreads #hispanic authors #hispanic heritage month #authors #authors of color

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belle-keys · 21 days

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I've been quiet these days... It's because I co-wrote and published a bilingual children's book set in my home country! Written in English and Spanish, my book is titled JUANITA and it's about the contemporary migrant experience in the Caribbean from a child's perspective.

JUANITA is the ideal tool for both children and adults to learn English or Spanish as a second language. It features a main story, reading comprehension questions, vocabulary lists, and written reflection exercises.

And guess what! It's available right now worldwide on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback format!

Link to Kindle purchase: here!

Link to paperback purchase: here!

Link to Goodreads page: here!

Give us a purchase, rate, and review if you would like! For language learners and people looking for Hispanic and/or Caribbean representation, JUANITA is my recommendation to you!

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jackredfieldwasmyjacob · 2 months

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my favourite iberian indigenous names have to be burrus and reburrus. they never fail to make me giggle everytime i come across them

#they were quite popular as well. like so popular roman authors tended to use burrus to talk about iberians in general #kinda like using juan to talk about hispanics or idk pierre for french people #for non-hispanics #burro means donkey #it also means stupid #and we use 'reburro' to say someone is extra stupid #also this proves burro the word comes from prerroman times which <3 #in my experience #almost all spanish words that don't have a clear origin and have a lot of 'rr' and other hard sounds are probably prerroman #(and most likely iberian tho it could be celtic)#arroyo and berrocal are two common examples as well #burro arroyo berrocal. you can see the similarities #also except burro they tend to be natural features and stuff which makes sense #an arroyo is a stream. a berrocal is a particular rock formation #this also proves at least for me the connection between ancient iberian languages as euskera #euskera is also characterized by a lot of hard sounds and if i didn't know them already #i'd think arroyo or berrocal were basque words

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pagansphinx · 6 months

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Angel Rodríguez-Díaz ( Puerto Rican, 1955-2023) • Portrait of Sandra Cisneros, author • Smithsonian American Art Museum

Exhibition Label at the Smithsonian American Art Museum:

Known for his richly textured and painterly style, Angel Rodríguez-Díaz spent the last several decades painting portraits of important cultural icons of San Antonio and the Southwestern United States. The "protagonist" of this painting is renowned Chicana novelist and poet Sandra Cisneros, best known for her debut novel, The House on Mango Street. Cisneros stands before a fiery sunset, dressed in a traditional Mexican skirt embroidered with sequined imagery that refers to her profession as a writer. Her commanding pose, reminiscent of historic European portraiture, proclaims that she will endure in her native landscape. In the work's title, as well as its composition, the artist asserts that Chicanx culture will not be erased.

#art #painting #fine art #latina author #sandra cisneros #portraits of famous people #portrait #puerto rican artist #angel rodríguez-díaz #contemporary portrait #contemporary painting #paintings of women #hispanic heritage month

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fortunatefires · 11 months

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I'm not even an hour into the sunbearer trials and I'm already in love

#The sunbearer trials #Sunbearer trials #It has Cemetery boys vibes so that's a 5 star waiting to happen #They're by the same author lmao that's why #Either way I'm apparently a sucker for wreckless hispanic trans guys #I should put more Aiden Thomas on my tbr #Wondering if I'll get those horror aspects from Cemetery boys because I absolutely loved that #Text #Text post #Aiden thomas #Bookblr

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kuramirocket · 11 months

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"Primo," which premieres Friday on Amazon’s free streaming service, Freevee, formerly IMDb TV, is based on the life of journalist and author Shea Serrano, 41. He's the author of bestselling pop culture and sports books, including “The Rap Year Book” and “Basketball (and Other Things)” — former President Barack Obama chose the latter as one of his favorite reads in 2017. Both books were turned into docuseries for AMC and Hulu.

"Primo" follows Rafa, a young Mexican American high school student as he balances cultural norms, college aspirations, societal expectations and the hectic home life of being raised by his single mom and his five uncles, all with very different lives and perspectives on manhood.

Serrano, the first Mexican American to be a four-time New York Times bestselling writer, is one of "Primo's" showrunners and creators.

“I hope people, when they watch it, they just feel good and warm and demand 30 more seasons of it," said Serrano, who's also a screenwriter, podcaster and former teacher. “When we were writing the show, like, let’s just make it as specific as possible. And then let’s get a bunch of really talented people, make some room for them and let them go nuts."

In a virtual interview, Serrano said that while the show is based on a Latino character, it's not about having “to say that the family is Latino.”

“We were very aware of what we were wanting to do, and a lot of this stuff is, like, we don’t need to say every single thing; we just will exist, and it’ll be better that way," he said.

Serrano recently signed a television deal with Amazon Studios, the studio behind "Primo," to develop an original and limited podcast series.

He is also behind Netflix’s comedy series "Neon," as well as "Miguel Wants to Fight," his first feature film, which will premiere on Hulu this year.

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#🇲🇽#Shea Serrano #mexican authors #mexican showrunners #mexican screenwriters #mexican writers #mexican podcasters #barack obama #AMC #hulu #amazon #mexican american #mexican #hispanic #latino #books #primo #primo (tv show)

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importantwomensbirthdays · 12 days

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Selva Almada

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Selva Almada was born in 1973 in Villa Elisa, Argentina. Almada is regarded as one of the most powerful voices in contemporary Argentine and Latin American literature. Her first novel The Wind That Lays Waste was nominated for Argentinian Book of the Year upon its publication in 2012. In 2019, when it was published in English, it won the Edinburgh International Book Festival's First Book Award. Almada has been compared to William Faulkner, Carson McCullers, and Flannery O'Connor. She has been a finalist for the Tigre Juan Award, the Rodolfo Walsh Award, shortlisted for the Vargas Llosa Prize for Novels, and longlisted for the International Booker Prize. Almada's work has been translated into several languages, including Portuguese, French, Turkish, Swedish, and Italian.

#writers #woman writers #authors #books #argentina #latin america #latin american literature #latina #hispanic #south america #Youtube

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rockislandadultreads · 2 years

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Beautiful Book Covers: Hispanic Heritage Month Picks

Portrait of an Unknown Lady by María Gainza, Thomas Bunstead (Translator)

In the Buenos Aires art world, a master forger has achieved legendary status. Rumored to be a woman, she seems especially gifted at forging canvases by the painter Mariette Lydis, a portraitist of Argentine high society. But who is this absurdly gifted creator of counterfeits? What motivates her? And what is her link to the community of artists who congregate, night after night, in a strange establishment called the Hotel Melancólico? On the trail of this mysterious forger is our narrator, an art critic and auction house employee through whose hands counterfeit works have passed. As she begins to take on the role of art-world detective, adopting her own methods of deception and manipulation, she warns us “not to proceed in expectation of names, numbers or dates . . . My techniques are those of the impressionist.” What follows is a highly seductive and enveloping meditation on what we mean by “authenticity” in art, and a captivating exploration of the gap between what is lived and what is told. Portrait of an Unknown Lady is, like any great work, driven by obsession and full of subtle surprise.

Bindle Punk Bruja by Desideria Mesa

Yo soy quien soy. I am who I am. Luna--or depending on who's asking, Rose--is the white-passing daughter of an immigrant mother who has seen what happens to people from her culture. This world is prejudicial, and she must hide her identity in pursuit of owning an illegal jazz club. Using her cunning powers, Rose negotiates with dangerous criminals as she climbs up Kansas City's bootlegging ladder. Luna, however, runs the risk of losing everything if the crooked city councilmen and ruthless mobsters discover her ties to an immigrant boxcar community that secretly houses witches. Last thing she wants is to put her entire family in danger. But this bruja with ever-growing magical abilities can never resist a good fight. With her new identity, Rose, an unabashed flapper, defies societal expectations all the while struggling to keep her true self and witchcraft in check. However, the harder she tries to avoid scrutiny, the more her efforts eventually capture unwanted attention. Soon, she finds herself surrounded by greed and every brand of bigotry--from local gangsters who want a piece of the action and businessmen who hate her diverse staff to the Ku Klux Klan and Al Capone. Will her earth magic be enough to save her friends and family? As much as she hates to admit it, she may need to learn to have faith in others--and learning to trust may prove to be her biggest ambition yet.

A Woman of Endurance by Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa

A Woman of Endurance, set in nineteenth-century Puerto Rican plantation society, follows Pola, a deeply spiritual African woman who is captured and later sold for the purpose of breeding future slaves. The resulting babies are taken from her as soon as they are born. Pola loses the faith that has guided her and becomes embittered and defensive. The dehumanizing violence of her life almost destroys her. But this is not a novel of defeat but rather one of survival, regeneration, and reclamation of common humanity. Readers are invited to join Pola in her journey to healing. From the sadistic barbarity of her first experiences, she moves on to receive compassion and support from a revitalizing new community. Along the way, she learns to recognize and embrace the many faces of love—a mother’s love, a daughter’s love, a sister’s love, a love of community, and the self-love that she must recover before she can offer herself to another. It is ultimately, a novel of the triumph of the human spirit even under the most brutal of conditions.

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

In the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz’s father is executed and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife’s sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security his estate in the countryside provides. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost. But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined. When Rodolfo returns to work in the capital, visions and voices invade Beatriz’s sleep. The weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. Rodolfo’s sister, Juana, scoffs at Beatriz’s fears—but why does she refuse to enter the house at night? Why does the cook burn copal incense at the edge of the kitchen and mark its doorway with strange symbols? What really happened to the first Doña Solórzano? Beatriz only knows two things for certain: Something is wrong with the hacienda. And no one there will help her. Desperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. No ordinary priest, Andrés will have to rely on his skills as a witch to fight off the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda and protect the woman for whom he feels a powerful, forbidden attraction. But even he might not be enough to battle the darkness. Far from a refuge, San Isidro may be Beatriz’s doom.

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