Summer of the Mariposas

Odilia is the eldest of five sisters. She is marked by her sense of responsibility for her siblings, especially when their mother goes through tough times. She lives with a constant anxiety that she is not doing enough for her family. While her mother works nights and grieves the abandonment of her husband, Odilia quickly fills a maternal and disciplinary role for her sisters, which the second-eldest daughter Juanita initially rebels against but eventually learns to accept and support.

In author Guadalupe García McCall’s hands, the legendary La Llorona is re-envisioned as a woman misunderstood. Characterized as a hysterical, crazed ghost who drowned her own children in the river, when La Llorona first appears to Odilia, she explains that she is not a monster but a grieving and guilt-riddled mother. Though she did not murder her children, she feels responsible for their deaths. She punishes her self-perceived negligence by wandering the earth looking for her children in vain. McCall positions La Llorona as the Garza sisters’ guide, coming to their aid in times of need. This feminist retelling of La Llorona’s legacy highlights the historical peril of women at the hands of men.