A riveting novel from acclaimed author Kathleen Alcalá, this second edition of The Flower in the Skull, from Raven Chronicles Press, begins in the Sonoran Desert in the late 19th century, where an Ópata village is attacked by Mexican soldiers. Her family scattered, Concha makes her way to Tucson, where the stories she tells her daughter lead to Shelly-a troubled Latina in modern-day Los Angeles, increasingly fascinated by her ancestry. A powerful tale of heritage, loss, and acculturation, Alcalá spins her most lyrical and moving work yet.

The Flower in the Skull stands perfectly apart even as it continues the epic begun with Spirits of the Ordinary.

The second part of a planned trilogy that began with Spirits of the Ordinary (1997), The Flower in the Skull spans more than a century in offering a view of three women linked by Indian blood and their dreams, and seared by the violent transgressions of men. Childhood comforts in her Ópata village in Sonoran Mexico cease for Concha when her father is seized by Mexican soldiers and never seen again. First abandoning home with the remainder of her family, then herself abandoned by her mother, Concha walks in a daze across the desert to Tucson, where she's taken in as a nanny by a prospering Mexican family. A measure of peace returns to her. But when she's raped by an Anglo and bears his child, nothing can ever be the same. A brief marriage to the family doctor fails to produce more children, so her husband abandons her for someone else, leaving Concha and daughter Rosa to fend for themselves.

Over the years, Rosa picks up the burden when her mother grows too weak to continue the dawn-to-dusk housecleaning work that has sustained them, but then Rosa catches the eye of a young minister and receives Concha's blessing to marry him just before Concha dies.

Busy starting her own family and keeping her own house, Rosa still wonders about her mother's past-Ópata and the father she never knew. Two generations forward, Shelly, an editorial assistant for an L.A. publisher, jumps at the chance to escape her stalking, harassing boss by going on a research trip to Tucson, where she finds not only a mystery involving her mother's family and her people in a broader sense, but also the will to survive the horror waiting for her when she returns to Los Angeles.

Like her previous novel Spirits of the Ordinary, The Flower in the Skull is set along the Mexican/U.S. border and deals with three generations of Ópata Indian women--ranging from the turn of the century to the present day. All are based on members of Kathleen's family, the book recreating both the magic and hard work of survival. The story is heartbreaking in places, but the prose is even more gorgeous, and there is a richness to Alcalá's characterization and settings that invite re-reading passages, simply to re-experience their resonance.

This book is not to be missed, especially by students of Native American Studies, border studies, and American history.

Formato	Tapa suave
Número de Páginas	178
Lenguaje	Inglés
Editorial	Raven Chronicles
Fecha de Publicación	2023-05-05
Dimensiones	9.0" x 6.0" x 0.41" pulgadas
Número de Edición	2
Letra Grande	No
Con Ilustraciones	No

Arreguín, Alfredo M.

Alfredo Arreguín was born in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico, and developed as an artist in Seattle (BA 1967, MFA 1969, University of Washington), where he has resided since 1956. Arreguín has a long and distinguished list of accomplishments that span close to four decades. In 1979, he was selected to represent the United States at the 11th International Festival of Painting at Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, where he won the Palm of the People Award. In 1980, he received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. A climatic moment in his career came in 1994, when the Smithsonian Institution acquired his triptych Sueño (Dream: Eve Before Adam) for inclusion in the permanent collection of the National Museum of American Art. A year later, in 1995, Arreguín received an OHTLI Award, the highest recognition given by the Mexican government to distinguished individuals who perform extended activities that contribute to benefit the Mexican community abroad.

Alcalá, Kathleen

Kathleen Alcalá was born in Compton, California, to Mexican parents, and grew up in San Bernardino. Both a graduate of and instructor in the Clarion West Science Fiction and Fantasy Program, her work embraces both traditional and innovative storytelling techniques. 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. With Norma E. Cantú, Kathleen is the co-editor of Weeping Women: La Llorona's Presence in Modern Latinx and Chicanx Lore. A member of the Ópata Nation, Kathleen makes her home on Suquamish territory.