A Novel
by Gina María Balibrera
A searingly original debut about two sisters and their flight from genocide—which takes them from Hollywood to Paris to San Francisco's Cannery Row—each haunted along the way by the ghosts of their murdered friends, who are not yet done telling their stories.
El Salvador, 1923. Graciela, a young girl growing up on a volcano in a community of Indigenous women, is summoned to the capital, where she is claimed as an oracle for a rising dictator. There she meets Consuelo, the sister she has never known, who was stolen from their home before Graciela was born. The two spend years under the cruel El Gran Pendejo's regime, unwillingly helping his reign of terror, until genocide strikes the community from which they hail. Each believing the other to be dead, they escape, fleeing across the globe, reinventing themselves until fate ultimately brings them back together in the most unlikely of ways…
Endlessly surprising, vividly imaginative, bursting with lush life, The Volcano Daughters charts a new history and mythology of El Salvador, fiercely bringing forth voices that have been calling out for generations.
"Haunting…Spanish words and phrases are interwoven throughout the novel, challenging readers to sink into Balibrera's lushly described world, where meaning is found through experience rather than translation. A devastating story of sisterhood, community, and memory, quietly magical and utterly unforgettable." —Library Journal (starred review)
"Captivating…Vibrant…Their visions of Graciela and Consuelo are riveting… Striking characters…Balibrera eulogizes the lives lost in La Matanza, the real-life 1932 massacre of the Pipil people by the Salvadoran government, and underscores the value of holding one's culture close, even when it threatens to disrupt just-scarring wounds…The resilience of sisterly bonds forms the backbone of this swirling, heart-wrenching debut." —Kirkus Reviews
"Wrenching…With keen psychological insight, Balibrera portrays how the women, each of whom doesn't know the other has survived, make hard choices in search of fulfillment. It adds up to a powerful story of finding the strength to chart one's own course." —Publishers Weekly
"A new heir to the magical-realism throne." —Seattle Times
"A bilingual, mythological, and original debut about resistance and survival." —Vulture
"A new book to be entered into the historical magical realism canon…A staggering tome of sisterhood, disaster, and myth. Readers can expect an imaginative roller coaster of emotion as the sisters do everything they can do to reconnect." —Debutiful
"A gripping and spellbinding novel about a sisterhood ripped apart by violence, narrated by a ghostly chorus. An unforgettable debut." —Brit Bennett, author of The Vanishing Half
"This novel is astonishing: layered, lush, lyrical, and marvelously transporting. Gina María Balibrera has woven a gorgeous and painful tapestry, rich with history, memory, and the troubling voices of the dead who will not be silenced. The Volcano Daughters is a dazzling accomplishment." —Kirstin Valdez Quade, author of The Five Wounds
"Gina María Balibrera is a tremendous new talent. The Volcano Daughters is a towering achievement at the intersection of ancient myth, political history, and vibrant storytelling. A fierce and pulsating novel, this book will capture your heart and enrich your mind." —Kali Fajardo-Anstine, bestselling author of Woman of Light and Sabrina & Corina
"Every character comes vibrantly to life in The Volcano Daughters. Every scene surprises with unexpected tremors of questions about the legacy of political violence, how social upheaval shapes sibling dynamics and haunts the psyches of children for the rest of their lives. Gina María Balibrera is a writer of tremendous imagination who draws on her knowledge of two languages to craft a first novel unlike any other I've read." —Idra Novey, author of Take What You Need
This information about The Volcano Daughters was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Gina Maria Balibrera earned an MFA in Prose from the University of Michigan's Helen Zell Writers' Program. She's been awarded grants from Aspen Words, Tin House, the Rackham Foundation, and the Periplus Collective, as well as a Tyson Award, the Aura Estrada Prize, and the Under the Volcano Sandra Cisneros Fellowship.
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