A Review of Cynthia Gomez's "Muneca"

Cynthia Gómez's "Muñeca" is a sapphic romance wrapped in a package of witchcraft and familial obligation. 

Natalia Fuentes grew up helping her mother around the grand Miramontes house, polishing wood and silver. There, she first meets Violeta, the privileged, pale-skinned ancestor of original Californios. They grow up and go their separate ways: Nati to become a human calculator at a bank, and Violeta to marry. Nati learns, however, that Violeta has become bedridden, unable to communicate, and she believes something sinister has befallen the woman. She also believes she has the power to cure her. Nati takes a position as Violeta's caretaker, and with the training she received from her grandmother, slowly starts to break the curse on Violeta.  

This was a fun, quick read. I enjoyed the details in the spells and the tidbits of California history sprinkled in. The contrast of Nati's family to Violeta's, and the two women's different experiences, paint a believable and timely portrait of the Bay Area in the 1960s. Muñeca means doll in Spanish, and the title works on multiple levels. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope to see more in a similar vein from Cynthia Gómez.