BINGO – Flora (there’s a small flower at the center of the cover and Orquídea means ‘orchid’ in Spanish)
The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina is told with two narratives: one of the past life of Orquídea Divina, matriarch of the Montoya family and the other of the Montoya family in present day. Orquídea is dying and she summons her family to her home to receive their inheritance. The family gathers and soon realize that no one is getting the family cuckoo clock or heirloom jewelry. No, Orquídea has much more magical gifts for everyone. But with these gifts come the consequences of Orquídea’s life. Now cousins Marimar and Rey must piece together Orquídea’s life in order to survive what’s coming for them.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. The magical realism was exquisite. Between a character literally turning into a tree, a house appearing out of the blue in a valley, flower buds growing out of peoples skin, a rooster that get resurrected multiple times, and more, this book is rich with magically imagery that is woven perfectly into reality. There is just enough wonderment from everyday people to highlight how unusual these sorts of events and people are, but the extraordinary events never take over the story. Magic and the working of magic is not the focus of this story. The importance of family and the choices each person is forced to make in life are at the heart of this book, and Córdova never looses sight of that.
I, however, did lose the plot a little around the start of the last third of the book. I’m not sure if it was because I was distracted while listening to the audiobook or if the plot really did get a little hazy. Either way, things got unnecessarily complicated towards the end for me. Events transpired rapidly. Multiple characters had great revelations that happened in rapid succession. Everything felt rushed. Fortunately, the rushed ending does not ruin the storytelling or Córdova’s beautiful writing.