In our October Book Club episode, the Unabridged Podcast is diving into Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). Join Ashley and Jen as they discuss this gripping novel set in 1840s Mexico, where Nena, the daughter of a rancher, faces a sinister threat that lurks near her home, draining men of their blood. After being attacked by this nightmare nine years earlier, Nena is reunited with Néstor, her childhood sweetheart, as they are both pulled into the chaos of the U.S. invasion of Mexico in 1846. Nena, a curandera, and Néstor, a vaquero, must confront their unresolved past while battling a monstrous evil.
In the episode, Ashley and Jen share their overall impressions, what worked for them, and some powerful quotes from the book, including a discussion about Nena’s struggle for freedom. They also offer their book pairings. Don’t miss this deep dive into a historical, supernatural story!
Bookish Check-in
Ashley - Deanna Raybourn’s A Curious Beginning (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Jen - Sarah Henning’s Sea Witch Rising (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Our Book Club Pick
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Our Pairings
Ashley - Justine Ireland’s Dread Nation (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Jen - Victor LaValle’s Lone Women (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Unabridged Favorites
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[00:00:00]
[00:00:33] Ashley: Hi, and welcome to Unabridged. This is episode 280. Today we are discussing Isabel Cáñez's Vampires of El Norte. This is our October book club. Before we get started today, I just wanted to remind you that we have resources this year on Patreon. So this is new. If you have not been to Patreon before for our page, or even if you have been, we now have a tab that's for a shop.
[00:00:59] So if you go to patreon. com/unabridgedpod, we have all these resources that are now available on there. And you may just purchase a resource. There are book club guides and discussion questions and things like that on there. You can purchase those. You do not need to be a patron in order to access and purchase anything that would be useful to you.
[00:01:20] So we just wanted to share that with you. That's new on Patreon this year. We really appreciate your support. The people who are supporting us on Patreon, you are helping make this possible. It covers our costs for our podcast. So we're really grateful. And we're excited to offer that as a pretty new feature for Patreon.
[00:01:35] And so this summer on our retreat, Jen and I took time to get some things up on there because that is pretty new, and we're excited that they're offering that because we know there's lots of times that people would like to support or would just like some access to resources, but don't necessarily want to add one more subscription, which we certainly understand.
[00:01:51] So thanks for your support. And again,If you want to check it out, it's patreon. com slash underbridgepod. And again, there's a tab for the shop and that's where you can see those new resources. All right, before we get into Vampires of El Norte, we are going to do our bookish check in.
[00:02:07] Jen, what are you reading?
[00:02:09] Jen: So I am reading Sarah Henning's Sea Witch Rising, which is a sequel. It's book two in a duology. And before we started, I was trying to think about how to talk about the sequel without giving away the first book. And I just don't think I can. So I'm going to describe The Sea Witch, which is book one. And you should know that it is inspired by The Little Mermaid, more the original fairy tale than the Disney version.
[00:02:37] And the main character in the sea witch is Evie and Evie has grown up in a small town in Denmark and she has two best friends, Anna and Nicholas. And Nick is the prince and Anna is part of the upper echelon of the society. And Evie is decidedly not. She is the daughter of a fisherman. They barely make ends meet.
[00:03:08] Her mother died in ways that I'll explain in a minute when she was quite young. And there, so there is definitely this socioeconomic division between Evie and her two friends, but they are her best friends. When they are teenagers, there's a horrible accident, and Anna drowns. And since that happened, Evie has been blamed by the town for Anna's death and has been even more of an outcast than she was already.
[00:03:41] So Nick has continued to be her friend, but nobody else is a fan of Evie's. And one day a girl appears who looks just like Anna.
[00:03:57] And Evie suspects, she comes from the sea. She suspects that it may be Anna in some form. And Anna tells her that she has to capture Nicholas's love or she will be returned to the sea. So Evie, who loved her friend dearly, because she thinks this is her friend, decides that she is going to help her. The undercurrent pun, not intended, sorry.
[00:04:26] But the undercurrents Of the book is that there are witches and Evie's family has witches among them. They present as healers, but often when something suspicious happens, the topic of witchcraft does come up, and it is not okay to be a witch in this society, as in any society. Right? So they're always eager to deny that it is witchcraft and instead attribute it to.
[00:04:57] The things that real healers are able to do, but that is definitely wound through Evie's heritage and the way that her mother died when she was quite young was tied to witchcraft. And so Evie. Nobody really knows, but there's always this little general suspicion that Evie and her family are somehow tied in with witchcraft.
[00:05:18] So that's all I can tell you. I will say knowing that it is based on The Little Mermaid, there were parts where I was trying to make everything fit. And so it's really interesting the way Henning navigates the original fairy tale, using it as source material, but not being beholden to it. And then Sea Witch Rising, which again, I'm not going to spoil, but does take that a step further.
[00:05:45] And yeah, it is really great. And so that is all I will say. So I'm currently reading Sarah Henning's Sea Witch Rising, but you should definitely start with The Sea Witch, which is book one. These are not standalones in any way, shape, or form.
[00:06:01] Ashley: I am very intrigued to get back to that series, Jen. I didn't even realize there was a second book, and I did not expect some things that happened in The Sea Witch. And then I was kind of like, should I have expected? Maybe. But I did not. And so it, yeah, exactly what you said of not being beholden to the tail while also incorporating it in interesting ways.
[00:06:23] Yeah. Yeah, I'd like to get back to that.
[00:06:25] Jen: I think you'll really enjoy it. I am so close to being done. I was trying to power through and finish it before I started recording and didn't quite make it, but it is really good.
[00:06:35] Ashley: Sounds like that's what you'll be doing the second we get off.
[00:06:37] Jen: And I will say the audio, I did the audio for book two, and I've really enjoyed that as well.
[00:06:42] Ashley: Nice.
[00:06:43] Jen: All right. So Ashley, what are you reading?
[00:06:47] Ashley: This one... I am cheating a little bit because I just finished but I do think it is a really good seasonal read And so I wanted to mention it. I actually started this one because I wanted to share it for spooky reads. And then I felt that it was not at all spooky. And so I picked it and then I just finished.
[00:07:05] but I did wanna share it because I absolutely loved it, but I couldn't in good faith recommend it. So we record in batches, right? So like we were doing our spooky read today in our recording session, and. I loved it and I think that I found this on a recommended list, for like, you know, seasonal spooky reads or whatever.
[00:07:23] And I just, I just didn't think so. I don't know if you read these?
[00:07:26] Jen: I've read the first two and I would agree. I love them, but not spooky for sure.
[00:07:30] Ashley: Yeah. And like atmospheric, I mean, there's an atmospheric element, but not, not at all spooky. Anyway, so this is Deanna Raeborn's A Curious Beginning. And this is book one of the Veronica Speedwell series.
[00:07:43] I had only read Deanna Raebourne's Killers of a Certain Age, which I loved.
[00:07:48] And so I was eager to get back to her, but none of her other books are familiar to me. But anyway, this one, Veronica Speedwell is, of course, our protagonist and it's set in London in 1887. So very interesting time period. Interesting for her, we find out very quickly that she is orphaned, and she's been raised by two spinster aunts. one of those aunts was still living at the beginning of this book, but she passes away, and Veronica, her job is to kind of wrap up her life there.
[00:08:22] Veronica is a young adult, and she is thinking about what it means to wrap up the affairs for her aunt. She is sad that she died, but also like, ready to be out on her own, and she's very eccentric.
[00:08:38] She has no problems doing her own thing, paving her own way. It doesn't bother her if she's making waves and people are appalled by her. And so, early on, I mean, there's a lot of really humorous parts of the book, and some of what's so funny about it is just how frank she is about herself and her stance and her beliefs, And so, she gets in these situations where She's with people who are trying to force societal norms upon her, and she is just not interested in that.
[00:09:11] So she takes care of the aunt's affairs and. When she goes to do that, she is wrapping up things at the home and there has been a break in.
[00:09:25] And she doesn't think a whole lot of this. But then, she's approached by this really unusual, German Baron, who is also a bit eccentric, and he is basically like, you need to run for your life. And she's like, no, I don't think so. And so she does not. believe him. She does not think that anyone is actively after her. She just thinks that there's been a series of unusual things involving this break in.
[00:09:59] But the baron is very insistent, and he keeps trying to say that he knows things that he wants to tell her, but he needs permission to tell them, and that he needs her to trust him, that, you know, Until he can unveil these truths, she needs to let him help her protect herself. And she's kind of like, Yeah, right. But she's also hearing him say that he's gonna give her a free trip to London in order to Keep her safe, and she's like, okay and so she's willing to kind of go along for the ride. They do travel together, and some weird things happen along the way And, again, she's pretty dismissive of them.
[00:10:45] She tries to use her calculating mind to give rationalizations for why these unusual things might have occurred that, you know, aren't part of this bigger plot. And yet, more and more things are happening. Well, he takes her to meet Stoker, the person he refers to as Stoker,
[00:11:02] He is an unusual guy. The Baron takes her there and says, You will stay here until I can come back and get you.
[00:11:09] You are not safe. And so, Veronica, again, is very skeptical, but also willing to go with the flow. And so, she gets to know Stoker. And they become a bit of a duo who are on the run. and so, a lot of what the Baron suggests, Again, I don't want to give any spoilers. I'll just say that, I mean, of course, there's some truth here, right, to what he is suggesting about there being something going on, but she has no idea what that thing is.
[00:11:37] She knows very little of her own past prior to being with the spinster aunts who had raised her, and so she just doesn't have a lot to go on as far as why anyone would be after her or what it might mean.
[00:11:51] Both Stoker and Veronica are fascinating, kind of hilarious, very unique characters, and so I loved it. it is, In the cozy mystery arena, but also it's a little, it's not a heist, but it has that feeling of a kind of a heisty kind of book also, which I always enjoy.
[00:12:11] So yeah, I thought it was fantastic and I will definitely continue with the series. So again, this is Deanna Raybourn's A Curious Beginning.
[00:12:19] That one is my book is checking, but I did want to share it even though I just finished because it's a really fun book.
[00:12:25] Jen: I love the first two books and that is definitely, it's quite a long series. There are actually a lot of books
[00:12:31] Ashley: Oh really? I hadn't looked yet. That's, that's good news for me because I
[00:12:34] Jen: Yeah. And I, a lot of the audio books are on Everand. So I don't know if it's the entire series, but I'll probably be listening to some of them. I
[00:12:44] Ashley: And I listened to this one. I think the audio is really, was really good. I liked it. Well, today we are discussing Isabel Cañas's Vampires of El Norte. Before we get into our discussion, I'm just going to share a synopsis. I will say that If you are interested in hearing more about Cañas Jen, I remember that you shared La Hacienda before on a Spooky Read episode, maybe?
[00:13:07] So
[00:13:08] Jen: Maybe last year. I can't remember.
[00:13:10] Ashley: Maybe. I'll take, I'll try to put that in the show notes, but if you did read along with us and you liked it and
[00:13:15] if you want to hear a little bit about The Hacienda, Jen shared that one before as well. And I have not read that yet, but I'm eager to because I loved this.
[00:13:23] Okay. So as far as the synopsis, this is what the publishers say. As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters. Her home has long been threatened by tensions of Anglo settlers from the North. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night.
[00:13:40] Something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead. Something that once attacked Nena nine years ago. Believing Nena dead, Nestor has been on the run from his grief ever since. Moving from ranch to ranch, working as a vaquero. but no amount of drink can dispel the night terrors of sharp teeth.
[00:13:58] No woman can erase his childhood sweetheart from his mind. When the United States attacks Mexico in 1846, the two are brought abruptly together on the road to war. Nena as a curandera, a healer, striving to prove her worth to her father so that he does not marry her off to a stranger, and Nestor as a member of the auxiliary cavalry for ranchers and vaqueros.
[00:14:22] But the shock of their reunion, and Nena's rage at Nestor for seemingly abandoning her long ago, is quickly overshadowed by the appearance of a nightmare made flesh. And unless Nena and Nestor work through their past and face the future together, neither will survive to see the dawn. There you go.let's talk first about overall impressions.
[00:14:43] Jen, what did you think?
[00:14:45] Jen: So I guess it's obvious from the title what is going on here, but I'll just say we're gonna get into the details. So just a reminder that we will have spoilers in this episode if you haven't read the book yet. Yeah, I really loved it. I love vampire tales, and I thought this was such a unique take on vampire stories.
[00:15:04] So I love that. And I loved the way that Cañas wove together historical research with the vampires. And I thought, yeah, I just thought that was masterful. And I thought the way that she used the vampires as a way to have this social commentary was so, so smart. And again, rooted in her historical research.
[00:15:29] So I found the end note as with the best historical fiction. I thought that was fascinating. So if you didn't read that far, I highly recommend it. But yeah, I loved it. I think she's such a great writer. And somehow, even with all of this going on. There was a great sense of character as well. So I found the plot to be really propulsive, but I loved, loved, loved the main characters and the world that she built and just the consideration of class within that it there's a lot going on here, but it never felt like too much.
[00:16:00] So my impression, I just absolutely loved it. What about you, Ashley?
[00:16:06] Ashley: Yeah, this was a second reading for me, and I, I'm trying to not just say ditto to what Jen said. I mean, I really loved it. and then I loved Nena and Nestor as individual characters. I think we really can empathize with each of them and understand why they have the stance that they do. And I loved that at its heart, it is a love story.
[00:16:34] And I think that that is just so hard to do. You know, this is a book that could be in the horror genre. It could, it certainly is historical fiction. And yet also it is a romance. And at its core, it is very much about two people who love each other and who are in a lot of ways, star crossed lovers. And so I think it's amazing to me that all of those things are happening all at once.
[00:16:58] And I love the way that we see the layering of the vampires as a weapon, which is, there is a component of that that is beyond reality, right? But it is also very believable. And I think that is the thing that I find so captivating is, like Jen said, we're going to give spoilers here, so I'm sorry if I just, gave a big one, but, I mean, that idea that the vampires could be leveraged on purpose with malice in order to take over people's land?
[00:17:36] is just not that far from the history of Manifest Destiny. And I think that is the thing that is so powerful, is like, because they are so grotesque, because they are so frightening, because they are so deadly, we can see how awful it is. And again, it's just not that far from what really happened and from the way that colonization works, from the way that people taking property works, and so I just think that that is really impactful because for the reader to have to grapple with that is really hard. So yes, masterful, as you said, Jen. So let's talk about something specific that worked. What was something specific that worked for you, Jen?
[00:18:18] Jen: Something that I thought that worked well, that is outside of the things we've already talked about is the consideration of gender at this time and in this place. And I thought nena has so much to offer, and yet her parents see her only as valuable because of the connections that she might bring about through marriage.
[00:18:42] And I thought watching her struggle with that from the time she's a child and has feelings for Nestor and knowing that they will resist that relationship, both because of class and because if she were to marry him, then that is a potential connection lost... The ways that she has this ability to heal and to be someone who can really help make their land and make their property a better place.
[00:19:16] It just tied in so well. Both with the, the Americans who are invading... There's this constant sense of people who are wanting more and more power. And her father is resisting that, her father and mother are resisting that on this one plane, but then in another way, they are buying into that because that's how they're viewing her as a property, as something that can help with acquisition.
[00:19:40] And so I just thought the way Cañas presents all of this as a systemic problem, as a system that you can resist it on one level, but then given on another, as the way we see her parents do made so much sense of the world and just of the way that people view things. So I, and I loved the way Cañas navigates that through the book to try to break some of those systems so that she does have more of her own.
[00:20:12] She, she can take control of her own identity. She really, Can have control and see herself as valuable in and of herself and what she brings to something, not just as a belonging to be traded for someone, or something, or more land, or more power or more... just more good opinion, right?
[00:20:30] They just want to leverage her and all these ways. So I really thought that treatment of gender was smart, and the way it was placed within the world as a whole was, was pretty brilliant.
[00:20:40] Ashley: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I thought that so much of that commentary about gender and class and structures is just really powerful.
[00:20:51] Jen: Yeah. But what about you, Ashley? What's something that worked for you?
[00:20:55] Ashley: I think I'm going to focus on the setting, borderlands in general. I think that something that Cañas... It's within, but it is subtle, is just this idea of ever shifting borders, and that what we believe as property, be it our own, of the ranchero, or of the country itself, that all of that is in question. And that those lines are not fixed in the way that I think we often think of them as being, that they are arbitrary and they are temporal. And I think that is really powerful because I think that in a lot of ways we take some of those ideas for granted. And remembering that like, that's not that long ago. And that all the things that happened, and the way that the lands shifted, and the way that the border changed. I mean, for one thing, I am ignorant to a lot of that, so I don't want to speak to you too much about all of that, because I am not a historian, and I'm not an expert, but I think that, you know, remembering that, what we think of as being the borders today, which profoundly shape the experiences of the people who live within each border.
[00:22:12] And how that looks as people try to transition from one border to another, like what all that looks like, and thinking about that for the U S and Mexico specifically. I just think it's so interesting to look at this depiction, which is fiction, but based in a reality of the way that, you know, when they're talking, when the rancheros, when the people, You know, the, patrons, like when they're coming together to try to unite against the Yankis and seeing like that this is a real threat and that suddenly people who at, you know, before we're at odds, I mean, there's that moment in the beginning where, Don Feliciano sees the patron of the other plate, like the other Ranchero coming to talk to him, and he's like, you have these hundreds of people at your disposal and yet you're the one coming.
[00:23:02] And there's that moment of reckoning of them having to be like, suddenly these like big men with their own land, which again, I mean, all of this is so complex, right? I mean, they have these lands because they were granted from the Spanish government to them. So it goes back to this idea of like, it's only because the colonizer
[00:23:21] let certain people have these lands, that this entire structure's in place. But now their own land is a threat of being lost by someone else who is presuming to have the right to it. I think all of that forces us to remember and try to reconcile in a way that is not really reconcilable, understandably, because the whole system is corrupt and complex.
[00:23:45] Like, all of that is at the heart of this book, and I think It is both the background, but also the essence of everything that comes to pass.
[00:23:57] Jen: Yeah. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I, and I, yeah, all of that speaks to just Cañas brilliance. Again, I think because she's trained as a historian, she is seeing all of that. And so it's so... I just appreciate so much authors who can provide commentary all on all of those things. without losing a sense of the central story.
[00:24:21] It's, it's really amazing. So
[00:24:23] Ashley: And she's using the story to make it accessible to the reader. So I think that's really interesting also that, of course, in her discipline, I'm sure she has lots of very complex texts that are focused on analysis of the actual historical events. But in her fiction, she is inviting the reader to consider it through the story.
[00:24:47] And I think that's really amazing.Let's talk about a quote that resonated. Jen, what, what is one that you would like to share?
[00:24:57] Jen: think I'll go with, "'We need all the help we can get to keep these vampires from sucking our land dry,' Don Antonio added." And I, I like that. Maybe it's over saying this to say that the vampires are both literal and metaphorical, but I think that then really connects to Cañas's Author's Note the end when she saw this one quotation that basically brought this whole thing together, that the vampires are there, but they are not the true evil.
[00:25:31] They are like animals. And again, like you talked about earlier, Ashley, that they are being used as weapons. It's the metaphorical vampires, the people who are using them as weapons and who are trying to take away all that is rich about this culture in this place who are the vampires who are most dangerous.
[00:25:50] It reminds me a little bit of the Walking Dead which I haven't read the comic books, but I only the first one, but I love the show. And what you find out in the Walking Dead eventually is that it's not the zombies who are the true danger. You can manage them fairly well in most situations. It's the humans who take advantage of what the zombies are doing.
[00:26:09] And so it's the same kind of thing. And I think horror works and these kinds of creature books work so well when you're thinking about human nature and what is most corrupt about them. And so, yeah, I thought that was brilliant. And I just love that articulation, that clear articulation of that idea, that the vampire, the metaphorical vampires are the true danger here.
[00:26:32] Ashley: Yes. There's the moment where Nena is like a coyote is, is only a threat because it needs to eat. Like she kind of goes through all the predators and she sees the vampires. I mean, that whole scene where she
[00:26:45] unlocks their chains and trusts that they will let go is, you know, on the one hand, hard to believe, but on the other hand, very effective. Because it's this idea of if we come with no harm and no harmful intent, that a wild creature can understand that. And yet, that again, they're only doing. what they have to do to survive, and that the Yankis have been very aware of that and are purposely starving them to make them all the more dangerous.
[00:27:17] And I think that whole thing is absolutely like so powerful because it just shows that You know, this, it is a mythical creature, but then, like, it's just not that far from the way that we use resources with cruel intent and how that's really the thing, rather than the, in this case, vampire itself, you know?
[00:27:38] And so, yeah, absolutely.
[00:27:40] Jen: Yeah, actually, what quotation do you want to share?
[00:27:43] Ashley: This is from when Nena and Nestor are on, are on the road trying to get back to Los Aguelos, and she is thinking about What, what it means that they're on this journey together, but that, of course, they have to get back to reality as it were. And so, The quote is,
[00:28:03] "They would leave this in between, this lawless journey where survival superseded all the rules of polite society, and re enter the world they were born into. The world where vaqueros do not speak to the daughters of la casa mayor, where mama and honor and appropriate behavior were the law. The world where nena's bargain with papa spelled the end of her freedom. Perhaps it was right, but it wasn't what she wanted." And I think so often in the story, so this is really about class, right, and I think there's so much discussion here about class and the structure of society and the way that, and I mean, Nestor says these really hard truths to her about how she has these misconceptions that, you know, her papa works so hard.
[00:28:50] And therefore, he's granted the land and the opportunities that he has, and he does work hard. ButNestor gives these examples of where, of course, for himself and for so many others, they're also working extremely, extremely hard, often harder, and yet never to gain their own property because the system is denying them that opportunity.
[00:29:10] And so she's really having to reckon with that. And I appreciate all of that tension. And there are times where I feel so frustrated with her in the story. Like, I'm ready for her to get over it. I'm ready for her to forgive Nestor. I'm ready for her to realize, like, the limitation of the way that she's thinking.
[00:29:27] But I think that Cañas does a really great job of reminding us that she is a product of the upbringing that she's had and that her views are limited by that experience, and that it is only in the shifting of her experiences that she's then able to question some of these systems that she's just accepted as being truth.
[00:29:50] And so I just feel like that's one example of where I felt like that passage was powerful just because it accentuates how in this moment she can see what's wrong with the system that they live in, but she also is aware that as soon as she returns, the system is still in place and that there's little that she can do about it.
[00:30:10] And I think that all of that is really powerful, and at the forefront of what that means for Nena and Nestor and what they want for themselves, but also like what might come to pass.
[00:30:20] Jen: Yeah. I would echo what you said about getting impatient at some moments, but then I think you have to consider that if you've been raised your entire life to think this way, same thing with her parents, it is really hard to rest free of that, of that lens. And so it does take her strong attachment to Nestor to help her see the world differently.
[00:30:40] So yeah.
[00:30:42] Ashley: And, and like for them, their privilege benefits from the lens. I mean, so I think it also, again, it's a time where like the historical aspect calls the reader to think about the fact that, you know, when you are in a system, but you are at a privileged position within it, it's all the harder to force yourself to see the problems with it, because again, then that requires a shakeup of the way the system is.
[00:31:11] Whereas for people like Nestor who are striving, who are wanting to position themselves differently, he's had his whole life to think about that, and to, he already sees what Nena cannot yet see.So we always like to recommend a pairing, and we'd like to do that with this one. Jen, what pairing did you select?
[00:31:31] Jen: So I am going to recommend Victor LaValle's Lone Women, which similarly takes a historical situation and brings in an element of horror. And I'm going to tread very carefully with this one, because the central thing that I would want you to know is a secret for a lot of the book, but the book focuses on Adelaide Henry, who has grown up in the West with her parents.
[00:32:02] And at the beginning of the book, you find out that her parents have died because of something that is kept in a trunk. And you don't know what's in the trunk. It is important. But Adelaide has to take the trunk with her wherever she goes and she flees the town where she has lived her whole life, she burns down the house with her parents bodies in it, takes the trunk with her and travels to Montana, this is 1915, to this place where single women can claim land.
[00:32:42] And she meets other women who have fled from similarly fraught circumstances and are trying to make their way as independent women when that was frowned upon... at a time when that was frowned upon. And as you're navigating this historical situation and some men who don't believe women should have the land.
[00:33:05] And so they're coming in and trying to intervene, there's always tension around this trunk and what is within it that can never leave Adelaide's mind. So she's navigating very difficult situations that we know about. And then there's always this central trunk. So it is really, really brilliant. I think just like in Vampires of El Norte, we see this complex historical situation that is rooted in reality.
[00:33:36] And then you place this other mysterious thing in the center of it. And it just. Is this great emphasizer of those situations. And ultimately the reveal is so satisfying and plays into all of it in such a fascinating way that I really, really loved it, but yeah, it's tough to talk about because you, you should want to know what's in the truck.
[00:34:04] And yeah.
[00:34:04] Ashley: I do want to know what's in the trunk. I'm intrigued.
[00:34:07] Jen: It's very good. So yeah, that is Victor LaValle's Lone Women.
[00:34:12] Ashley: Interesting. I hadn't heard of that one, Jen.
[00:34:14] Jen: very good. I read it. It was part of, the Tournament of Books or maybe Camp COB, but it was, yeah, it's quite good. And LaValle is a horror author who has a ton of books out there. And this was my first by him. So I definitely want to read more.
[00:34:26] Ashley: Cool.
[00:34:27] Jen: you? What's your pairing?
[00:34:30] Ashley: So I was torn, but I think I want to share Justina Ireland's Dread Nation. If you've been with us a long time, we discussed this one. It's just been quite a while. But we did do this as a book club and it is. a great parallel, I think, for a lot of reasons, but it's also just a fantastic book. But basically, this is set right after the Civil War in the U. S. And the idea, the premise is that it is that era, butin this alternate history, The paranormal element is that the dead walk again. And so there is this idea that right around the time of the Civil War, the dead are rising. And of course, that is changing the nature of the setting. And yet there is still very much the question of how the society is structured and what all that means for the people in it.
[00:35:28] And so because of this imminent threat, is a law that's passed that requires people who are Native American, people who are Black, people who fall into these outlined classifications, that they have to train to be what they call an attendant. And the attendants... they have all these etiquette Things that they do, and they're supposed to be sort of like a lady in waiting kind of role, except also they need to wield these weapons that they can use to kill the undead.
[00:36:07] Okay, so, so it, I think that what I absolutely loved is that, for one thing, there is this tension between wanting to continue to have this superficial society where we act like everything is fine. And yet, just beyond the borders, there are these monsters who are doing everything they can to destroy people and the society itself. And I think that in a lot of ways, what we've already talked about, I think this idea of like, there is a mythical component, but that threat is commenting on these larger societal issues, and the way that they do plague us both in our own actual history, and also in our present. And so you really see that here. So there's a lot of, exploration of Jane. I think, I love her as a character. And I think that she is such a strong character and we really are rooting for her. And yet we're also seeing how she's so constrained by the situations she finds herself in, by the way that she's born, by the restrictions that are being placed upon her.
[00:37:15] And yet this moment also means that there may be opportunities that could shift her own life in a way that would not be possible if it weren't for this imminent threat. And I think again, we see that in Vampires of El Norte, that things are changing and part of why they're changing is because of these threats that are forcing people to re examine exactly the way the society is.
[00:37:41] And so I really love that. So I think that similar to Cañas, Ireland is asking some really interesting questions. The questions do not have easy answers, and yet she's also envisioning a situation that could lead to different outcomes because of the way that things are unfolding. And so I just love all of that. So I think there's a lot of parallels.
[00:38:02] I think it's a really strong book. As I was thinking about this as a pairing, I was like, I need to get back to the series because I did not continue and I absolutely loved it. So again, this is Justina Ireland's Dread Nation. And similarly to Vampires of El Norte, if you are a seasonal reader, this is another one that's great for, just kind of atmospheric reading this time of year.
[00:38:21] Jen: Yeah, that's such a great rec. And I liked the second book a lot. I can't remember the title right now. I think it's only two though. I think it's just a duology. I'm not
[00:38:29] Ashley: Oh, awesome. I do better with those. So maybe I need to circle back. I like it when there's two. Very, very containable.
[00:38:36] Jen: Yes.
[00:38:38] Ashley: Awesome. well, we're going to end this part of our discussion with our bookish hearts. Jen, how many?
[00:38:43] Jen: This won't be a big surprise. Five. I loved it. How about you?
[00:38:48] Ashley: Five for sure. I was like, let's please do Vampires of El Norte. I can't wait to discuss this. I want to read it again. So here we are. I love it. I love Cañas's work and I am eager to read The Hacienda. As I mentioned in the beginning that I just really want to read that one as well. I just think, I love her storytelling.
[00:39:06] So, well we wanted to end today with what we are calling Unabridged Favorites. This is new this season that on our book club discussions, we wanted to just share a favorite that we have experienced recently. So, Jen, what's your Unabridged Favorite for today?
[00:39:24] Jen: So Kirk and I have been watching House of the Dragon, which is the prequel series to Game of Thrones. And I will just say It does not live up to Game of Thrones at its strongest. So like seasons one of two of Game of Thrones I think are pretty unmatchable But it has been a while since I have watched a show that is this compelling and this It's thought provoking and the characters have such nuance.
[00:39:51] It's just really smart. And you know, it's very violent. There's a lot of sex. It is very explicit. There's a lot of incest, so much incest. So you know, all of those things are troubling, but the storytelling is great. Fantastic, and I just can't wait to watch the next episode. So it's really good. That is House of the Dragon.
[00:40:15] Ashley: Interesting. I don't know what to say about that. I, but it is funny that you said that about Game of Thrones because I really, I think I got through three seasons of it and I really loved it and then I just lost momentum. So actually in some ways I'm like, okay, well maybe I saw the best parts of
[00:40:29] Jen: Yeah, you probably did it stays strong for a while But definitely the first few seasons are the best and the last season It's not good at all. I have seen people recommend recently, just don't watch the last season. I'm like, but if you love the show, it's hard not to watch the last season if you've watched all the rest.
[00:40:46] But...
[00:40:46] Ashley: right.
[00:40:47] Jen: yeah. What's your favorite that you want to talk about, Ashley?
[00:40:51] Ashley: I'm going to share our family joined a sailing club. And so that's exciting. So this is Western Carolina Sailing Club, and it is on Lake Hartwell, which is less than an hour from Greenville. And they are a very accessible club. I do not know the first thing about sailing as I am telling you all this.
[00:41:10] So I don't know. what... I have to learn, but I am so excited and it's really cool. We were fortunate to be gifted a sailboat. That's part of how this came about and I'm excited about that, but we need to learn, of course, how to manage... This is not a motorboat where you just turn it on and go. So we have some learning to do, but it's really cool.
[00:41:31] The club is very open. They're very encouraging to kids and they have a lot of club boats that are maintained by the club, and you can check those out, and take them out and sail around. So I'm really excited to learn. It's been a long time since I learned a completely new skill. It is a little intimidating to me, but Mahan is really good at plowing forward with those kinds of things, and I'm good at following behind.
[00:41:56] So I will, I will not be the one leading the way, but I will happily So, I think it's exciting and I'm interested to see where it goes. So, favorite might be a little bit of a misnomer for me at this point, but it is something new that I am excited to discover more about.
[00:42:15] Jen: That sounds like a lot of fun. Once you learn how you'll have to take me sailing.
[00:42:19] Ashley: Yeah, that's, I mean, that's another thing that's really nice is that friends can come with us. And we're really we can sail or not, but they have a really nice space. It's very easy to access the water there. So when we've gone before, we've gone out with friends a couple of times on boats, but we also have just gone swimming.
[00:42:35] So, we went this weekend, and we just went swimming yesterday. We didn't go out on any boats, and it was still really fun. It's just nice to have a place that's easy access and that we can bring friends if we want. So yeah, it will be nice. Well, thank you so much for listening today. We are interested to hear your thoughts about Isabel Cañas's Vampires of El Norte.
[00:42:56] We also are always interested this time of year to hear what you're reading if you enjoy the spooky season. and if you're reading any seasonal books, we always want to hear about those. So you can find us at Instagram on Unabridged Pod and you can always message us there. Thanks so much.
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