This Fierce Blood

A multicultural saga, This Fierce Blood follows three generations of women in the Sylte family.

In rural late-nineteenth-century New England, Wilhelmina Sylte is a settler starting a family with her Norwegian immigrant husband. When she forms an inexplicable connection with a mountain lion and her cubs living near their farm, Mina grapples with divided loyalties and the mysterious bond she shares with the animals.

In 1927 in southern Colorado, Josepa is accused of witchcraft by a local priest for using the healing practices passed down from her Native mother. Fighting for her family's reputation and way of life, Sepa finds strength in worldly and otherworldly sources.

When Magdalena, an ecologist, inherits her great-grandmother Wilhelmina's Vermont property, she and her astrophysicist husband decide to turn the old farm into a summer science camp for teens. As Magda struggles with both personal and professional responsibilities, the boundary between science and myth begins to blur.

Rich in historical and cultural detail, This Fierce Blood combines magical realism with themes of maternal ancestral inheritance, and also explores the ways Hispano/Indigenous traditions both conflicted and wove together, shaping the distinctive character of the American Southwest. Readers of Téa Obreht and Ruth Ozeki will find much to admire in this debut novel.

Author: Malia Márquez
Publisher: Acre Books
Published: 10/07/2021
Pages: 232
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.80h x 5.90w x 0.60d
ISBN13: 9781946724441
ISBN10: 1946724440
BISAC Categories:
- Fiction | Hispanic & Latino
- Fiction | Family Life | General

About the Author
Malia Márquez was born in New Mexico, grew up in New England, and currently lives in Los Angeles. Her work appears or is forthcoming in journals and anthologies such as Hobart and The Tertiary Lodgers, and has placed in short and long form fiction contests including the Staunch Short Story Prize. This is her first novel.