Kissing the virgin's mouth : a novel /

Gershten's debut novel--a compelling tale about an outspoken and courageous free spirit named Guadalupe Magdalena Molina Vasquez (called Magda)--has won the Bellwether Prize for Fiction, an award established by Barbara Kingsolver. Born in 1950 in a coastal resort town in Mexico, Magda grows up poor and determined. She loves her wise, long-suffering aunt; stoic, nearly blind, and pious mother; and even her ne'er-do-well father, but she has no intention of accepting their lot in life and has no qualms about using her beauty to get ahead. Ostracized for her perceived brazenness, she leaves home and snares a wealthy husband, only to become embroiled in a strangely erotic contest of wills with his ruthless mother. Her second marriage, to a white American, takes her all the way to Idaho and motherhood, but she eventually returns to her beloved hometown, where she manages a successful restaurant, struggles to retain her daughter's love, and faces the blindness she inherited. Sensual and ironic, dramatic and sensitive, Gershten's insightful cross-cultural novel astutely weighs the inequities between men and women, rich and poor. Donna Seaman

Choosing to tell her debut novel from the point of view of a Mexican woman, North Carolina native Gershten produces a moving, convincing tale. Born in Teatl n (for which read Mazatl n) at mid-century long before it became a resort, narrator Guadalupe Magdalena Molina V squez embodies most of the contradictions of Mexico itself: she believes in love but is suspicious of men; she rejects religion but yearns for faith; and she respects tradition while breaking all the rules. The adult Magda describes her coming of age in the barrio, selling the corn-based drink tejuino in short shorts at age 14 and making more money than her father. Driven out of town three years later by the League of DecencyÄa cover for jealous wivesÄMagda becomes a go-go dancer in Tijuana, a rich rancher's wife in Monterrey, then marries a professor and lives in Idaho for a dozen years. Always, however, she is drawn back to Teatl n, even at the cost of being separated from her half-gringa daughter, Martina, for months at a time. Magda endures every form of abuse, and it is no surprise that the novel is dedicated to "all the whores in history." Magda may not be a winner in the tradition of unsinkable heroes, but she is not a loser, either. She is unafraid to use, learn and move on, and she is independent, determined not to succumb to the demands of her native country or her adopted one. Agent, Jean Naggar. (Mar.) Forecast: Gershten's appropriation of Mexican themes and languageÄSpanish colloquialisms pepper the textÄmay strike some readers as condescending, but this spirited novel, the first recipient of Barbara Kingsolver's Bellwether Prize for a work of socially or politically engaged fiction, will ultimately win over most skeptics. Author appearances in the Southwest, Denver and North Carolina and a 15-city NPR campaign should get sales off to a good start. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Here's another award winner; first novelist Gershten has copped the new Bellwether Prize, sponsored by Barbara Kingsolver, for a work of socially or politically engaged fiction. At the center of the story, set in Mexico, is smart, sexy Magda, who starts out poor but ends up on top as a wealthy courtesanÄwith old age on the way. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

An impressive debut about a strong woman often knocked down but never dragged out. Guadalupe Magdalena Molina Vasquez ("Magda") was born into a culture that didn't value her. In her hardscrabble section of Mexico, females cooked, cleaned, nursed, fulfilled their sexual obligations, cooperated in reproducing the species, and obeyed masculine directives no matter how mindless. Outside of that, they were expected to keep their mouths shut and go to church a lot. From the beginning, though, it was clear that Magda Vasquez was subversive. Brainy, plucky, instinctively rebellious—and drop-dead beautiful—she always knew that Teatlán couldn't hold her and that whatever trick or exploitation she might resort to was legitimized by the requirements of the life force: that is, by her need to escape the choking grip of xenophobic Teatlán. With money garnered illicitly and a dress stolen from her sister, she finally flees, rides a bus into the big city, Tijuana, and there begins the journey that transforms Magda the innocent into Magda the elegant—a full-fledged woman of the world. But it's a bumpy journey even so. Following its erratic twists and turns, Magda moves from reluctant go-go dancer to pampered wife of a rich Mexican aristocrat to adored wife of an American professor. She becomes a mother, loses her child, then finds a way to regain her even though it costs her dearly. Experience teaches Magda hard lessons, how to endure misery, cope with happiness, and muddle through the in-betweens. She learns "the value of a good enemy" and that "the hardest failure is when you fail yourself"—which the indomitable Magda never does. Another in that appealing line of grace-under-pressure heroines. Gershten’s first is also the first to win Barbara Kingsolver's Bellworth Prize, awarded "for a work of socially or politically engaged fiction." Stronger even than that, however, is the emotional engagement here.