Hello!
If you are a member of the Fantastic Strangelings Book Club you should check your email because you just got a special invitation to come hang out online with me and July’s book pick author, Virginia Feito as I ask her a million questions about Mrs. March, including “WHAT TIME IS THIS SET IN?” and “OMG WTF VIRGINIA BUT IN A GOOD WAY?”
I’m opening up discussion for Mrs. March on the Fantastic Strangelings Facebook page but you can feel free to leave thoughts here if you’re not a Facebook person. (I’ll leave my thoughts in the comments and I have A LOT.) And as always, there are no rules to Book Club so no worries if you haven’t read it yet or if you are a quiet lurker. Honestly 70% of the club love this place because it is a true introvert’s delight and you never have to talk to anyone but still get to be part of an amazing community.
Yesterday we thought we’d sent out the email I wrote you about this month’s book pick (plus a small rant about videos games and hallucinations because I am easily distracted and my emails are ridiculous – sorry) but turns out we accidentally sent that email to the members of our new romance bookclub, whose logo makes me giggle like a 12 year old every time I see it…
…and it was probably very confusing to them, but there’s a lot of overlap of people in both clubs (FUCKING BLESS YOU, YOU GLORIOUS OVERACHIEVERS) so I guess it wasn’t confusing to those people but probably will be when they get a second email from me and wonder if I’ve been drinking more than usual and am stalking them.
So if you’re an honorary member or you haven’t opened your email yet, do you want to see this month’s pick?
I think you do because it is gorgeous in every way and you are invited into a very special story:
It’s The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova.
It’s a lush mystery filled with magical realism and Ecuadorian roots. Here’s a little summary:
“The Montoyas are used to a life without explanations. They know better than to ask why the pantry never seems to run low or empty, or why their matriarch won’t ever leave their home in Four Rivers—even for graduations, weddings, or baptisms. But when Orquídea Divina invites them to her funeral and to collect their inheritance, they hope to learn the secrets that she has held onto so tightly their whole lives. Instead, Orquídea is transformed, leaving them with more questions than answers.
Seven years later, her gifts have manifested in different ways for Marimar, Rey, and Tatinelly’s daughter, Rhiannon, granting them unexpected blessings. But soon, a hidden figure begins to tear through their family tree, picking them off one by one as it seeks to destroy Orquídea’s line. Determined to save what’s left of their family and uncover the truth behind their inheritance, the four descendants travel to Ecuador—to the place where Orquídea buried her secrets and broken promises and never looked back.”
I loved it and it reminded me a bit of Ray Bradbury’s From the Dust Returned mixed with The Umbrella Academy.
Oh, and I always give you an optional bonus book or two for those of us who need several to get us through the month. This month’s book choice was actually really hard for me because there was another book that I LOVED but I was worried it might be too dark for everyone so let me just say that if you love horror, Native American #ownvoices, strong female leads and amazing storytelling you 100% need to order My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones right now. It’s a love letter to slasher films on the surface but it is such a deep, and well-written book on race, gentrification, class, family and more.
Some other September books I loved that you may want to check out this month? Archer by Shruti Swamy (coming-of-age novel set in 1960s and 1970s Bombay), Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller by Nadia Wassef (a memoir about the women who founded the first modern bookstore in Cairo), Ballad for Sophie by Felipe Melo (a graphic novel exploring the cost or success and rivalry and flying pianos), The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward (a psychological thriller with so many twists you cannot put it down), How to Wrestle a Girl by Venita Blackburn (short stories exploring race, queerness, community with the most beautiful prose), Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo (“The Fast and the furious but make it gay and Southern Gothic”). So many good ones.
Happy reading!
PS. You are always welcome to join (or rejoin) the Fantastic Strangelings and all new members will get this month’s book and some lovely gifts. Come read with us.