This is my first book by Brenda Lozano and I have to say I really thought this was amazing, Brenda takes you to a world where magic is possible and everyone’s stories are intertwined with each other, I loved how she weaves stories of everyday life into this magical world, you really feel like you could be a part of it. Translated from the Spanish by Heather Cleary This captivating novel of two Mexicos envisions the writer as a healer and offers a generous and distinctly female way of understanding the complex world we all inhabit. But it is Feliciana’s and Paloma’s stories that draw her own story out of her, taking her on a journey to understanding her place in the world and the power of her voice. Growing up in Mexico City, Zoe attempts to find her way in a society straitjacketed by its hostile macho culture. In the tiny village of San Felipe in Jalisco province, where traditional ways and traditional beliefs are a present reality, Feliciana tells the story of her life, her community’s acceptance of her as a genuine curandera and the difficult choices faced by her joyful and spirited cousin Paloma who is both a healer and a Muxe – a trans woman. Weaving together two parallel narratives, Witches tells the story of Feliciana, an indigenous curandera or healer, and Zoe, a journalist: two women who meet through the murder of Feliciana’s cousin Paloma.

I came to understand that you can’t really know another woman until you know yourself… I had wanted to get to know them, but I realised right away that the people I needed to know better were my sister Leandra and my mother.

This is the story of who Feliciana is, and of who Paloma was. A remarkable novel by one of the most exciting new voices in Latin America today

Witches brenda lozano