Author is just one of Leopoldo Gout's (Monarca, with Eva Aridjis; Genius) many roles. His visual work--particularly in producing/directing films and television series--seems to be his dominant genre, including his adaptations of James Patterson novels such as Alex Cross. Gout's novel Piñata might originate on the page, but it's undoubtedly close-up ready, a multi-layered, multi-cultural paranormal thriller that screams "film me!"
The year is 2027, and Carmen Sánchez has arrived in Tulancingo, a small town two hours outside Mexico City, with her daughters, 16-year-old Izel and 11-year-old Luna. Born in Mexico, single mother Carmen hasn't been back to her birth country in years and her daughters have never been there. She's overseeing the renovation of an ancient abbey into a fancy hotel. She couldn't leave the girls at home with her overworked mother, so they've come along for the summer. Izel is less than thrilled, missing theater camp with her closest friends, but Luna is especially adaptive and eager to experience everything her ancestral land offers--chapulines (grasshoppers) included.
Being a woman boss--who looks like a local but clearly isn't--proves challenging, to say the least, but Carmen finds allies in the abbey's onsite representative, Father Verón, and physicist-turned-artisan Quauhtli. Despite their support, they can't protect her when a suspicious accident puts Carmen's job in jeopardy. She's not fired, but she's to be replaced by another colleague--male and white. By the time the family returns to New York, Luna, whose usually sunny personality was already being overshadowed by what Carmen thought was just adolescent moodiness, has changed completely. She's gone sullen and secretive, and Carmen hears inexplicable noises in Luna's locked room. And then Carmen's mother falls down the stairs and almost dies, and Luna swears she heard nothing. Just what did the Sanchez women bring back?
Gout, who shares his protagonist's Mexican roots, impressively weaves into his chilling narrative brutal Latin American colonial history, savagely enforced Christianity, ancient cultural beliefs and practices, and ongoing colonial erasure. Young Luna's classroom takedown of her well-meaning, misinformed white teacher reads like every POC student's wishful rebellion: "Not from you, gringa," Luna snaps after being told what she "should want to learn." "This melting pot was created by stealing, raping, killing, enslaving, and exploiting our native people." While Gout's initial exposition tends to meander and repeat, as soon as the otherworldly realms are fully unleashed, the cinematics take over in fast-action, vividly graphic, haunting, corpse-dropping splendor. And you thought those colorful piñatas were just for kids! --Terry Hong, BookDragon
Shelf Talker: Leopoldo Gout's paranormal thriller cinematically pits a single mother and her two daughters against vengeful, destructive ancestral spirits.