Matriarch of the Montoya family, Orquídea Divina Montoya, invites her children and grandchildren to collect their inheritance. She is not long for this world and must warn them about the dangers she’s been running from.
Zoraida Cordova’s fantasy novel bursts with life, reminding us of the power of family and traditions.
Read if you like: stories about large intergenerational families, themes of magical realism & fantasy, a mysterious matriarch, multi-timeline narrative with multiple POVs
The Montoya house in Four Rivers is symbolic of this book – a bewitching sight that, at close inspection, is otherworldly and unforgettable.
Just as the essence of nature always surrounds Four Rivers, its vividness is a constant presence in the writing.
I love the author’s writing style. It is imaginative and sentimental.
With stories about large families, it can be tricky to keep the plot as the primary focus while also doing justice to what the family dynamics add to the story. In my opinion, the author manages that commendably.
The Montoyas are a dysfunctional and complex bunch. They have never had the best relationship with their matriarch, Orquídea. But it’s interesting to observe how they react to this change of events.
My overall impression of the book is one of awestruck bafflement.
There’s fantasy, and then there’s magical realism. But when you bring the two together as Zoraida Cordova has done in The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina, it is mesmerising.
The chapters alternate between the points of view of Marimar, Rey, and Orquídea. As such, you follow the story in the present timeline, where all the Montoyas are gathering in Four Rivers, and also a parallelly running past timeline about how Orquídea’s youth.
The mystery of why she never leaves Four Rivers is something that doesn’t get resolved until the end. So it kept me engrossed.
This novel is a blend of different genres that you can only appreciate in its entirety when you read the book.
I wish we’d gotten to read a few more about how Orquídea was with the different Montoyas. That would have helped clarify why they have bittersweet feelings toward her and their family as a whole.
I really liked Rey’s character the most and would love to read a book that is set in the same world as this with Rey as the sole main character.
If you are looking for a story that is layered and plays with the themes of magic & family, I would highly recommend The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina.
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