CHOLA SALVATION

Smoldering stories that center the lives of Mexican Americans by complicating common tropes and conceptions.

This debut collection of interlocking short stories turns an unflinching eye on the small tragedies, gut-wrenching betrayals, and enduring courage of working-class Latinx folks in East Los Angeles and the borderlands. In the title story, 14-year-old Isabela struggles to break free of her mother's physical abuse and her father's molestations. Frida Kahlo and La Virgen de Guadalupe show up to help, but they don’t look like the typical icons of Chicano culture. Instead, Frida and La Virgen rock baggy pants, bright eye shadow, and dark lipstick while figuratively and literally arming Isabela to fight back. The story ends in a satisfying, bloody confrontation, but other stories close quietly. "Powder Puff," an absolutely devastating story told through the meticulous makeup routine of a woman who desperately wants to be seen, ends with dejection and jars of foundation stacked in a closet, "liquid skin sitting there, flaking inside the glass." "Matadora" and "Happiness Is Right Next to You," both of which center around disruptive wedding guests, offer slow burns and abound in the sartorial excess of the 1980s: shantung yellow pantsuits, black velvet chokers, and perms aplenty.

Imagine Winesburg, Ohio featuring Chicanx of East Los Angeles with a touch of mystical realism.