Features
Book Details:
ISBN: 978-0-9979-468-8-8
Publisher: Raven Chronicles Press
Format: Paperback
Publication Date: 5/10/21
Page Count: 234
Category: Fiction | Historical Fiction
Language: English
Dimensions: 6 x 9
Set in northern Mexico in the 1870s, Spirits of the Ordinary weaves the stories of women struggling against societal constraints, Mexican Jews practicing their religion in secret, and a gold prospector turned spiritual seeker in a spectacular desert landscape.
Winner of the Washington State Governor’s Writers Award and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award when originally published in 1997, Spirits of the Ordinary was one of the first books to address the topic of the hidden Jews of Mexico. The author has gone on to write two more novels of the Mexico-U.S. borderland in the late 19th century (The Flower in the Skull and Treasures in Heaven), and in her collection of essays, The Desert Remembers My Name: On Family and Writing, she describes how the three novels were inspired by family stories, interviews with elders, and extensive research.
Cover art by Alfredo Arreguín, detail from Red Pony, 2009.
Click here to find the ebook version: Apple Books | Kindle | PDF
Book Details:
ISBN: 978-0-9979468-6-4
Publisher: Raven Chronicles Press
Format: eBook/ePub (Apple Books format)
Publication Date: 5/10/21
Page Count: 234 (approx)
Category: Fiction | Historical Fiction
Language: English
In the tradition of Isabel Allende and Laura Esquivel, Spirits of the Ordinary is a magical multigenerational tale of family passions.
“It is testimony to Ms. Alcalá’s vivid talents as a storyteller, and to the mystical allure of the threads of magic realism that run through her narrative, that we come to care about many of her characters, and to wonder what destinies await them in her next book.”—Laurel Graeber, The New York Times Book Review
Book Details:
ISBN: 978-0-9979468-6-4
Publisher: Raven Chronicles Press
Format: eBook/PDF (PDF format)
Publication Date: 5/10/21
Page Count: 234 (approx)
Category: Fiction | Historical Fiction
Language: English
In the tradition of Isabel Allende and Laura Esquivel, Spirits of the Ordinary is a magical multigenerational tale of family passions.
“It is testimony to Ms. Alcalá’s vivid talents as a storyteller, and to the mystical allure of the threads of magic realism that run through her narrative, that we come to care about many of her characters, and to wonder what destinies await them in her next book.”—Laurel Graeber, The New York Times Book Review
Book Details:
ISBN: 978-0-9979468-6-4
Publisher: Raven Chronicles Press
Format: eBook/ePub (Kindle format)
Publication Date: 5/10/21
Page Count: 234 (approx)
Category: Fiction | Historical Fiction
Language: English
In the tradition of Isabel Allende and Laura Esquivel, Spirits of the Ordinary is a magical multigenerational tale of family passions.
“It is testimony to Ms. Alcalá’s vivid talents as a storyteller, and to the mystical allure of the threads of magic realism that run through her narrative, that we come to care about many of her characters, and to wonder what destinies await them in her next book.”—Laurel Graeber, The New York Times Book Review
Book Details:
A novel by Kathleen Alcalá
A new edition from Raven Chronicles Press
ISBN: 978-1-7354780-3-6
Publisher: Raven Chronicles Press
Format: Paperback
Publication Date: 5/25/2023
Page Count: 176
Category: Fiction, Opata Indians, Mexican American Women,
US & Mexican Border
Language: English
Dimensions: 6 x 9
Spanning 130 years, The Flower in the Skull opens in the 1870s with Concha, an Ópata Indian woman who has fled to Tucson, where she works as a housekeeper and clings to memories of her old way of life. Her daughter, Rosa, feels the trauma of Concha’s loss but struggles to understand her mother’s culture. The story jumps forward to 1990s Los Angeles, where Shelly, a young Chicana woman, digs through historical archives in search of information about the Ópata people.
Inspired by the author’s research into her own family history, The Flower in the Skull illuminates the importance of a connection to ancestors—a connection that survives colonial violence and generational trauma.
Kathleen Alcalá was born in Compton, California, to Mexican parents and grew up in San Bernardino. She is the author of six award-winning books that include a collection of stories, three novels, a book of essays, and The Deepest Roots: Finding Food and Community on a Pacific Northwest Island, from the University of Washington Press. A member of the Ópata Nation, Kathleen makes her home on Suquamish territory.