Two Sisters Take On the 20th Century, With Ghosts in Tow (NY Times, 2024)
Marie Arana reviews THE VOLCANO DAUGHTERS, by Gina María Balibrera.
Gina María Balibrera’s debut novel, “The Volcano Daughters,” spits fire from its very first page just as the fevered mountain of Izalco has flung brimstone for much of El Salvador’s volatile history. This is an epic story, a remarkable achievement for a writer making her first foray into the literary landscape. Balibrera demonstrates a fearlessness that is rare.
The humble pueblo of Izalco, which lies at the foot of the volcano in El Salvador’s far northwest, is where our story begins, but our heroines, Graciela and Consuelo, two Pipil sisters from the pueblo, soon find themselves in the capital’s corridors of power. Before long, life’s fickle wheel of fortune will hurl them to more distant harbors: San Francisco, Hollywood, Paris, Marseille, New York.
