Book Summary and Reviews of The Volcano Daughters by Gina María Balibrera

The Volcano Daughters by Gina María Balibrera

The Volcano Daughters

A Novel

by Gina María Balibrera

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  • Published:
  • Aug 2024, 368 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

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.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"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 in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Mary Ann

The journey of two El Salvadoran sisters before and after the time of The Massacre
The Volcano Daughters begins in El Salvador in the early 1900’s during the dictatorship of president Maximiliano Hernández Martínez. Actually his name isn’t even worth mentioning as in the story, he is simply El Gran Pendejo or The General. The story opens just after Salvadoran soldiers massacre thousands of indigenous people who lived up in the mountains, and worked as bonded laborers in the coffee fields. By means of a Greek chorus of ghosts—Lourdes, María, Cora and Lucia—we learn they were a group of childhood friends who were left for dead, along with their friend Graciela who is the sole survivor. Years before, Graciela’s older sister Consuelo was forcefully taken from their mother, by their father, to live with him in the capital with his new wife. Their father Germán escaped the drudgery of farm work when a wealthy white man offered to send him to school in Switzerland. In time, strangely enough, he becomes a spiritual advisor, an oracle, to The General.

The ghosts having been deprived of life too early, “hitch a ride” on Graciela’s and Consuelo’s life threads, and follow along with them to the capital, into the diaspora, and all that follows for the rest of their lives. But our ghostly friends, also have another agenda, they “haunt” and whisper into Graciela’s ears encouraging her to write their story, the story of the volcano daughters.

Balibrera paints in broad strokes the history of El Salvador’s troubling times and how these women’s lives were affected and how they coped with the genocide, sociopolitical chaos during The General’s reign of terror and life in the diaspora. It was a bit of a stretch of the imagination where the author takes the sisters, once they escape the capitol, but I was up for the ride. Or was it a stretch? There wasn’t an author’s note indicating what was historical and where she took creative license and I felt like I needed more here. I grew to enjoy our Greek chorus of puckish ghosts which lightened up some of the heavier moments. Although, I did find the use of certain repetitive words or phrases rather annoying. Overall, I thought it was an engaging debut novel, which enlightened an important part of El Salvador’s history. I highly recommend it to those that want a compelling story of sisterhood and friendship, or fans of Central American culture, history, and magical realism.

Jill

A Novel of Sisterhood
THE VOLCANO DAUGHTERS by Gina Maria Balibrera

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the ARC ebook to read.


A debut set in early 20th century El Salvador. Graciela and her four friends live a simple life along with their mothers on a volcano in a community of indigenous women indentured to a coffee plantation. Most of the children don’t even know who their fathers are. Graciela’s father, who was second-in-command and spiritual advisor to the the general, El Gran Pendejo, has died. Graciela, along with her mother are summoned to the capital to pay their respects. Upon arrival in the capital, the sister, Consuelo, who was kidnapped years ago is reunited with her mother and sister.

This story spans decades and follows the two sisters and their quest to flee the genocide in El Salvador, under the rule of El Gran Pendejo. A massacre of indigenous people following El Gran Pendejo’s coup d’etat leaves their childhood friends and families killed. The novel is cleverly narrated by the four childhood friends beyond the grave. The author did a brilliant job of having these four ghosts doing the narration. The sisters each believing the other is dead have crossed the globe, and reinvented their lives; ultimately reconnecting.

This is a difficult review for me to try and condense, as so much happens when spanning decades. I was pleasantly impressed by this authors debut and style of writing. A novel of resistance, survival, sisterhood, political history, lyrical, and mythical. I will definitely be following her to see what she does next.

Jill

The Volcano Daughters
THE VOLCANO DAUGHTERS by Gina Maria Balibrera

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the ARC ebook to read.

A debut set in early 20th century El Salvador. Graciela and her four friends live a simple life along with their mothers on a volcano in a community of indigenous women indentured to a coffee plantation. Most of the children don’t even know who their fathers are. Graciela’s father, who was second-in-command and spiritual advisor to the the general, El Gran Pendejo, has died. Graciela, along with her mother are summoned to the capital to pay their respects. Upon arrival in the capital, the sister, Consuelo, who was kidnapped years ago is reunited with her mother and sister.

This story spans decades and follows the two sisters and their quest to flee the genocide in El Salvador, under the rule of El Gran Pendejo. A massacre of indigenous people following El Gran Pendejo’s coup d’etat leaves their childhood friends and families killed. The novel is cleverly narrated by the four childhood friends beyond the grave. The author did a brilliant job of having these four ghosts doing the narration. The sisters each believing the other is dead have crossed the globe, and reinvented their lives; ultimately reconnecting.

This is a difficult review for me to try and condense, as so much happens when spanning decades. I was pleasantly impressed by this authors debut and style of writing. A novel of resistance, survival, sisterhood, political history, lyrical, and mythical. I will definitely be following her to see what she does next.

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More Information

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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