My Mother Cursed My Name

Three generations of fiercely strong and stubborn Mexican American women face grief head-on as they attempt to shed generational trauma and discover the true meaning of home in this lyrical novel that features magical realism in the tradition of The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina and The House of the Spirits. For generations,the Olivares women have sought to control their daughters’ destiniesstarting with their names. In lifeOlvido constantly clashed with her carefree daughter. Then teenage Angustias discovered she was pregnant and left her mother’s home in search of her own. Ten years laterFelicitas finally meets her estranged grandmother and is terribly disappointed when Olvido is nothing like a grandmother should be. She is strictcoldand…dead. NowOlvido is convinced the only way her spirit will cross over is if she resolves her unfinished business—to make sure Angustias is in a better place regarding familyjobhusbandand Godbut maybe not in that order—and Felicitas is the only person who can see or hear her. Heartbroken about her mother’s passing and desperate to put Olvido’s tiny Texas home in her rearview mirror as quickly as possibleAngustias doesn’t understand why suddenly everyone in town seems to be conspiring to set her up with every eligible bachelor in townoffer her jobsand invite her and Felicitas to church every Sunday. As Olvido attempts to puppeteer her granddaughter to “fix” Angustias’s life from beyond the graveAngustias tries desperately to find a better place for Felicitasand Felicitas struggles to keep her ability to see the dead a secret from Angustiasall three Olivares girls are forced to learn how to actually listen to one anotherto work to overcome generations’ worth of well-intentioned mistakes and learn the true definition of home.