It is 1968 Oakland, and Natalia Fuentes has been hearing rumors about the beautiful Violeta Miramontes. The young heiress to Spanish colonial wealth has been left paralyzed by a mysterious illness. But Nati knows a thing or two about witchcraft, and she is certain that this is the work of dark magic.
Armed with a plan to break the spell and earn a handsome reward, Nati works her way into the house as Violeta’s caretaker, and immediately discovers her suspicions are true. But who cursed Violeta? And why? As feelings between the two women bloom into romance, Nati grows more and more reckless, and is forced to face her own ghosts— ones she hoped would stay gone forever.
“This is what it could be like.”
Cynthia Gómez's Muñeca is a sapphic gothic novella with just a smidge of horror, enough to make it a perfect Halloween read, but it's really mostly cozy and witchy. It's a perfect novella, being perfectly self-contained, maybe a bit sudden in the relationship development, but the quick falling in love works because the characters already know each other. Nati and Violeta are very sweet together, and their bond is given time to mature after the main plot resolves.
The main plot is a powerful tale of feminism and working-class struggles, embedded with a tight horror plot where the horror lies mostly in the treatment of women - especially women of color - and the callous nature of power-hungry people.
Muñeca is a perfect autumn read.
✨ 4 stars
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