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The Volcano Daughters

Published by Oneworld Publications
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book

A searingly original novel about sisterhood, art, and a community of women who refuse to be silenced.

'A gripping and spellbinding novel about a sisterhood ripped apart by violence, narrated by a ghostly chorus. An unforgettable debut.' Brit Bennett, author of The Vanishing Half

Nine-year-old Graciela is raised in the shadow of El Salvador's Izalco volcano, until the day she is taken to the capital city by the country's fearsome – and fearsomely superstitious – dictator, who believes her to be a muse capable of foreseeing the future.

There, Graciela meets Consuelo, the sister she never knew existed. Consuelo is everything she is not – volatile, dreamy and teenaged – yet despite their differences, the sisters form an unlikely bond. When the dictator's brutality is finally unleashed, El Salvador is forever changed. Graciela and Consuelo survive the massacre, but most of their community are not so lucky.

From San Salvador to Los Angeles, Paris to San Francisco, the sisters create a new future for themselves. But the story of those they left behind is not yet over. Their voices, once just a whimper, now shout louder than ever. Listen.

* A Most Anticipated Book of the Year from Vulture and Electric Literature *

About The Author

Gina María Balibrera is a Salvadoran-American writer. She has an MFA in Prose from the University of Michigan's Helen Zell Writers' Program, where she was also a postgraduate fellow. She has been awarded grants from the Gould Center, the Rackham Institute, a Tyson Award, the Aura Estrada Prize, the Under the Volcano Sandra Cisneros Fellowship, and is currently a member of the inaugural Periplus Fellowship cohort. The Volcano Daughters is her first novel.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Oneworld Publications (October 3, 2024)
  • Length: 368 pages
  • ISBN13: 9780861545391

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Raves and Reviews

'Gina María Balibrera’s debut novel, which sees the girls navigate the disaster that follows by travelling to LA and then Paris, is, at times, as funny as it is unsettling, capturing both the trials of girlhood and the horrors of war. Narrated by a compelling ghost chorus (four women murdered during the earlier coup), The Volcano Daughters deserves plaudits for its stylistic invention, too, and marks out Balibera as a writer to watch.' Lunate

'A gripping and spellbinding novel about a sisterhood ripped apart by violence, narrated by a ghostly chorus. An unforgettable debut.' Brit Bennett, author of The Vanishing Half

'Balibrera weaves a tale rich in culture, loss and myth, with the resilience of these two women making a long-lasting impression.' Glamour

'This debut is colourful and inventive; a magical realist treat.' The Times

'Full of Spanish poetic descriptions... This lyrical narrative darts between a jungle on the edge of a volcano and more urban landscapes in El Salvador and is full of magical realism... Wonderful.' Daily Mail

'Inventive, surprising, and potent, I fell under Gina Balibrera's spell from the first line... The Volcano Daughters blew my mind with its rich humor, its beautiful portrayal of women's lives, and its unstoppable plot.' Chelsea Bieker, author of Madwoman

'Stunning: original, magical, brutal, beautiful. A sweeping yet intimate look at love, sisterhood, and resistance in the face of devastation.' Charmaine Wilkerson, author of Black Cake

'A bilingual, mythological, and original debut about resistance and survival.' Vulture

'A dark marvel of a book... Balibrera's fusion of history and legend, puts me in mind of a young Isabel Allende.' Peter Ho Davies, author of A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself

'A new heir to the magical realism throne.' Seattle Times

'A gorgeous and painful tapestry, rich with history, memory... The Volcano Daughters is a dazzling accomplishment.' Kirstin Valdez Quade, author of The Five Wounds

'A towering achievement at the intersection of ancient myth, political history, and vibrant storytelling.' Kali Fajardo-Anstine, author of Woman of Light

'Every character comes vibrantly to life in The Volcano Daughters. Every scene surprises with unexpected tremors of questions about the legacy of political violence... Gina María Balibrera is a writer of tremendous imagination.' Idra Novey, author of Take What You Need

'A captivating rendition of early-20th-century El Salvador... Riveting... The resilience of sisterly bonds forms the backbone of this swirling, heart-wrenching debut.' Kirkus

'The Volcano Daughters is a beautiful novel, weaving together magic and humour with tragedy and the unflinching documentary of injustice in a way that is so skilful and surprising.' Eleanor Shearer, author of River Sing Me Home

'Epic and intimate, alive and mournful, The Volcano Daughters is an exquisite novel teeming with life, ghosts, pain, and hope. I was swept away by its lyrical, generous storytelling. What a gorgeous, moving work.' Aysegül Savas, author of The Anthropologist

'This intriguing debut novel from writer Gina María Balibrera introduces two sisters from El Salvador with a story unlike any other... Is it historical fiction? Magical realism? Alternate history? Speculative mythology? The answer is yes.' Goodreads (Readers' Most Anticipated Summer Books)

'Balibrera offers a new book to be entered into the historical magical realism canon. It is a staggering tome of sisterhood, disaster, and myth...an imaginative roller coaster of emotion.' Debutiful (The Most Anticipated Debut Books of 2024 – Part Two)

'A fiery, pacey novel that knits together political history, magical realism and vivacious storytelling... An unyielding plot revealing the resilience of sisterhood.' Service95

'A lyrical evocative ride through the history and mythology of El Salvador... Sweeping, epic.' Irish Sunday Independent

'As funny as it is unsettling, capturing both the trials of girlhood and the horrors of war. Narrated by a compelling ghost chorus (four women murdered during the earlier coup), The Volcano Daughters deserves plaudits for its stylistic invention, too, and marks out Balibera as a writer to watch.' Lunate

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