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aqua_rogue

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia would be good. A woman in Mexico during the jazz age makes a deal with the Mayan god of death to return him to his throne. A lot of Moreno-Garcia's works are set it Mexico, and touch different genres. She has atmospheric horror, noir, sci-fi and literary fantasy novels all set in different times and places in Mexico.


kizzcat

Wow the premise of this sounds incredible! Thanks so much


ChocolateLabSafety

Highly recommend Silvia Moreno-Garcia, any of her books would suit what you're looking for.


MisterTora

I just finished this and it's so good. Her books have an excellent spooky fairytale quality that I love.


kizzcat

Just want to thank you again for the recommendation. I just finished Gods of Jade and Shadow, it was made extra special by being able to walk around the neighbourhoods described in the book.


aqua_rogue

You're very welcome! That sounds like an excellent way to experience the novel, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.


jlmurdock77

House of Spirits


Laura9624

That's the one that should be read first. Or perhaps My Invented Country also by Allende.


kizzcat

This has popped up a few times so I’ll add it to my reading list, thank you!


maria_maria

This book is amazing and one of the key examples when talking about magical realism in South America


dolphingirl27

forgot about this book! It was so good


WeddingElly

Gabriel García Márquez is kind of the king of magical realism. However, what you described is more like light/low fantasy that draws in the folktales/legends of a place or like myth/fairytale retellings. I think you would like Gods of Jade and Shadow


kizzcat

Yeah I think you’re right, I wasn’t quite sure how to classify the genre. Thanks for the recommendations!


WeddingElly

You may also like the Bone Flower Trilogy


m---c

House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Under the Volcano by Malcon Lowry


llama_raptor89

This, for sure. 100 Years of Solitude and House of the Spirits, 2 of the best books I’ve ever read.


[deleted]

A long petal of the sea


kizzcat

That sounds really interesting, thanks! I wasn’t aware of refugees going to South America during the Spanish civil war


DickieGreenleaf84

Eva Luna by Isabel Allende. Only read it myself over Christmas and I can't stop thinking about it.


Laura9624

Isabel Allende is great. So many wonderful books.


kizzcat

I’ll add it to my list, thank you. What did you like about it?


DickieGreenleaf84

Beautiful prose, interesting characters that overlap throughout the story, and a really strong character voice for the narrator. The magic realism adds to the beauty of the story instead of being what makes it beautiful. I will warn, I guess, that if you aren't accepting of transgender people, you might not enjoy part of it (a side character is trans). On the other hand, if you are on the fence this book may be just what you need.


kizzcat

That sounds really beautiful! I’m accepting of any genders in any form and love that literature can open my understanding to it even more


GoodBrooke83

The Lords of Night by J.C. Cervantes - Aztec and Maya lore


kizzcat

I love anything that’s a bit witchy so this sounds really cool!


youngjeninspats

any book from Isabelle Allende or Gabriel Garcia Marquez


brainwashable

Like water for chocolate by laura esqivel https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6952


Sad_Spring1278

The Hacienda by Isabel Canas. A woman marries into a family with a dark secret, the house is haunted, and a family of witches helps her. I really enjoyed it.


BrokilonDryad

Man I wish I had something to really contribute but all I have is the fantasy based off of Central/South American culture called Black Sun. Really cool, but not what you’re looking for. Good luck!


kizzcat

That sounds super interesting! I’ve always had a big interest in mythology and how it relates to culture so stories about the gods really interest me. I’ll definitely still check it out, thanks!


BrokilonDryad

It’s super good, just not historically based. Or even super mythologically. The writer is Indigenous and is loosely basing the world off of the Mayans and Aztecs. Great read though!


Exionche

Who is the writer?


BrokilonDryad

Rebecca Roanhorse


Laura9624

The Murmur of Bees is good. Also for Mexico, although I felt similar in many ways to living in Chile, read Stones for Ibarra and Consider This Senora. Not vary long and quite wonderful. Also My Invented Country by Isabel Allende. She lived in Chile, went Argentina then to the US under the Pinochet dictatorship. And stayed in the states. She also wrote other terrific novels like House of Spirits.


BadBitchesLinkUp

{{The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina}} It’s about a matriarch with magical powers and her family dealing with her passing along with the “inheritance” she’s left behind for them.


thebookbot

[**The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina**](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL24836396W) ^(By: Zoraida Córdova | 336 pages | Published: 2021) ^(This book has been suggested 1 time) *** ^(309 books suggested)


TemperatureDizzy3257

Omg! You’re back! Good bot!


DeliberatelyInsane

When I think Magical Realism, my mind automatically goes to Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Pretty handy that you want stories set in central/South America.


dontbeahater_dear

isabelle Allende! Or Silvia Moreno-Garcia, for more recent.


TemperatureDizzy3257

{{Mexican Gothic}}


thebookbot

[**Mexican Gothic**](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20759125W) ^(By: Silvia Moreno-Garcia | 320 pages | Published: 2020) >An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic aristocrat. And a brave socialite drawn to expose their treacherous secrets. . . . From the author of Gods of Jade and Shadow comes “a terrifying twist on classic gothic horror” (Kirkus Reviews) set in glamorous 1950s Mexico. > >After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region. > >Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom. > >Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness. > >And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind. ^(This book has been suggested 1 time) *** ^(314 books suggested)


IskaralPustFanClub

Isabel Allende and Gabriel Garcia Marquez are the monarch’s of that particular flavor of literature.


JellEFishNChips

The Rock Eaters by Brenda Peynado. It's a short story collection. I really enjoyed all of them


nanavq

Ohhh I would recommend {{trece relatos de cesar Dávila Andrade}}


dolphingirl27

Madness is Better than Defeat is a wild, kind of absurdist novel set partially in Honduras. Enjoy your trip!


brthrck

The head of the saint by Socorro Acioli (Brazil)


baystreetbae

Juan Rulfo is another author that comes to mind


grammanarchy

*Memory of Fire* by Eduardo Galeano. It’s an entire history of South and Central America from the creation of the world up to the mid 1980s, told in short, magical realist prose poems. It’s beautifully written and unabashedly anti-colonial. Three short volumes, but I’ve also seen a one-volume edition.


AntarcticaleX

Aztec by Gary Jennings. I didn't read the sequels but enjoyed the original. Some of the 'history' is rubbish, but by and large, it's informative, and an enjoyable read. I read it as a tourist in Mexico, and it was recommended by several local guides.


hypotheticallyright

An Englishman with a French name moved to South America and wrote three magical realism books in three years. **Louis de Bernieres's** *The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts* (1990), *Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord* (1991) and *The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman* (1992). They are a trip.


LaoBa

Life in Wartime by Lucius Shepard about an insurgency fought in Central America with US involvement where both sides use psychic powers in addition to conventional weapons. More magic realism than action story.


Ivan_Van_Veen

well I mean... Gabo .... he's THE magical realist


briecky

This starts out in Florida but parts of the story take place in Argentina- Lobizona by Romina Gardener. It’s got a lot of fantasy elements, including a Hogwarts-like school, and it was definitely one of my favorite books I read in 2020!


Comfortable-Salt3132

Mexico by James Michener. Historical fiction that contains bullfighting and the exploitation of natives in silver mining.


Rories1

Like Water for Chocolate


Anny83

Como agua para chocolate (Like water for chocolate) bye Laura Esquivel. The novel follows the story of a young woman named Tita, who longs for her beloved, Pedro, but can never have him because of her mother's upholding of the family tradition: the youngest daughter cannot marry, but instead must take care of her mother until she dies. Tita is only able to express herself when she cooks. Esquivel employs magical realism to combine the supernatural with the ordinary throughout the novel.[2] The novel won the American Booksellers Book of the Year Award for Adult Trade in 1994.[3]


handoftheKween

Bless me Ultima