Spirits of the Ordinary: A Tale of Casas Grandes

By Kathleen Alcalá

Book Overview

Set in northern Mexico in the 1870s, Spirits of the Ordinary tells interweaving stories centered on Zacar as Carabajal, who leaves his comfortable city home to prospect for gold in the wilderness while his abandoned wife, Estela, struggles to build a new life.

Visions, dreams, and portents are part of the everyday world of Spirits of the Ordinary. Estela's siblings, the enigmatic and supernaturally beautiful twins Manzana and Membrillo, discover their gift for water divining. Zacar as's mother, Mariana, has been silent all her adult life after experiencing an apocalyptic vision of angels in her teens. His father, Julio, is an apothecary devoted to Torah study and Jewish mysticism, practicing his religion in secret as generations before him have done. Meanwhile, Zacar as's wanderings turn into a spiritual quest that takes him to the ancient cliff dwellings known as Casas Grandes.

Presenting a tapestry of fascinating lives as well as the story of a reluctant mystic in a spectacular desert landscape, Spirits of the Ordinary demonstrates that, as Alcal writes in her introduction, "magic and holiness are all around us."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0997946881
• ISBN13: 9780997946888
• Release Date: January 2021
• Publisher: Raven Chronicles
• Length: 236 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Great example of the "mystical" style of Hispanic writing.

Hispanic writing today seems to fall within three distinct categories, i.e., contemporary fiction (mostly urban in context), historical fiction and mystical fiction. With "Spirits of the Ordinary" Kathleen Alcala has supplied us with an excellent example of the mystical genre which is, insofar as I can assess, by far the most difficult and interesting format to work with and master.Set in the late 19th century, the book essentially is the story of one man-born a Jew, married into a large Catholic family, so estranged from both he lives essentially alone prospecting for gold in the mountains of old Mexico-who eventually becomes the equivalent of a shaman to and for the indiginious Indian communities in Northern Mexico/Southern New Mexico.Alcala hits the righ tone by introducing her mysticim indirectly and in a low key--the requisite angels, spirits and revelations are present, but are a complement to rather than the focus of the basic story. The book exhibits flaws common to the debut novel--sometimes disjointed, major characters a bit too out of focus, minor characters given too much play, etc., but the genuiness of the story, the aura of mysticims established, the overll quality of the writing and the extraordinary bredth of the core characters more than compensate for these weaknesses.Overall, this was one of the best novels I'e read this year and I highly recommend it.

pleasant day-dreamy read

Nicely told story set in New Mexico around the turn of the century. Includes a reluctant guru, gold explorations, handsome officers and hasty marriages.