Description:
The Flower in the Skull, begins in the Sonoran Desert in the late 19th century. Concha makes her way to Tucson, where the stories she tells her future daughter Rosa lead to Shelly-a troubled Latina in modern-day Los Angeles.
Brief description: Kathleen Alcalá was born in Compton, California, to Mexican parents, and grew up in San Bernardino. Both a graduate of and instructor in the Clarion West Science Fiction and Fantasy Program, her work embraces both traditional and innovative storytelling techniques. She is the author of six award-winning books that include a collection of stories, three novels, a book of essays, and The Deepest Roots: Finding Food and Community on a Pacific Northwest Island. With Norma E. Cantú, Kathleen is the co-editor of Weeping Women: La Llorona's Presence in Modern Latinx and Chicanx Lore. A member of the Ópata Nation, Kathleen makes her home on Suquamish territory.
Review Quotes:
Alcalá is fast becoming one of my favourite writers. Like her previous novel Spirits of the Ordinary The Flower in the Skull is set along the Mexican/Arizona border and deals with three generations of Opata Indian women--ranging from the turn of the century to the present day.
-Charles de Lint
The Flower in the Skull is rich in the lore of the Southwest and tells the little-known tale of the assimilation and loss of the indigenous people of the Sonoran desert. It is also a story of survival in a harsh, often dangerous world.
-Pat Bangs, Fairfax County Public Library, VA