Las Hechizadas
Anne Garcia, 2013
Synchronicity Publishing
336 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781891554384
Summary
Las Hechizadas is a novel set in a fictitious Latin American village where Mother Nature and her chosen women work together to care for the community. When Juan Romero, a young photographer living in Arizona, decides to visit his Abuela in Aguas Puras he doesn't realize the magical healing powers that exist in the high mountain valley.
His journey to reconnect with his family's past transforms his life and the lives of generations to follow. He becomes involved in a battle to save the valley from a multinational mining company and the struggle threatens to destroy the village as well as "Las Hechizadas," or the healing women, and their way of life.
Twenty years later his sister, Silvia, makes her way from the U.S. to again discover the secrets of her family's past, but in contrast to her brother, what she learns finally sets the universe straight and the women of the valley are once again in balance. The book is based off of the author's own experiences living and traveling in Latin America. She has woven stories told to and lived by her into this magical novel that connects us all to the power of the extraordinary women of the valley of Aguas Puras.
The novel is separated into Book I & Book II, intertwining the different time periods in which the siblings and their friends, families and lovers struggle to solve the problems of a society in which money and power rule over health, wellness and balance. It also has a spattering of Spanish, using codeswitching to communicate the biculturalness of the characters. (From the publisher.)