Salt bones A novel

Just as local farms have contaminated the Salton Sea, family secrets have also poisoned the nearby Mexicali town of El Valle. Malamar Veracruz has lived with the blame for her teen sister Elena's disappearance for years. Now grown and with two girls of her own, Mal is determined not to let her daughters meet a similar fate. With her brother running for Senate and oldest daughter romantically entangled with the local farming scion, Mal finds herself face-to-face with the horrible horse-woman of lore, La Siguanaba, and heeds her warning as another young woman vanishes, followed by her own youngest daughter going missing. Mal begins a wild search for her girl amidst hideous visions of La Siguanaba and her voracious appetite. Givhan's prose fluidly unfolds in both English and Spanish, planting the action in the environmental and emotional pollution of El Valle, where skeletons seem more likely to bloom than flowers. The pairing of family trauma and terrifying folklore makes this a sure bet for fans of Jessica Johns (Bad Cree, 2023) and V. Castro (The Haunting of Alejandra, 2023).

Givhan (River Woman, River Demon) mesmerizes with this masterful retelling of the story of Persephone and Demeter, set on the California-Mexico border. Malamar "Mal" Veracruz has lived in the dying town of El Valle, near the edge of the Salton Sea, for her entire life. Neither she nor her neglectful, emotionally abusive mother have ever left. After Mal's sister went missing as a teenager, Mal stepped up to raise her baby brother before having two children of her own. Ever since, she's been haunted by her mother's contempt, by a fierce determination to protect her own daughters, and recently, by visions of a horse-headed spirit woman from local legend, which convinces her that her family is in imminent danger. When another girl goes missing from El Valle, Mal and her daughters embark on an arduous journey to find her­--and perhaps confront the long-ago fate of Mal's sister. Givhan thoroughly evokes the harsh beauty of her setting, weaving folklore, mystery, and horror into a breathtaking tapestry. It's a stunning examination of generational trauma. Agent: Rebecca Friedman, Rebecca Friedman Literary. (July)