Kissing the Virgin's Mouth,
by Donna M. Gershten
Harper Collins/Perennial, 2001
Kissing the Virgin's Mouth, by Donna M. Gershten, is a wonderfully compact novel, rich with descriptions of barrio life, and the religious fervor surrounding the shrine of Niñito Jesús.
Young Guadalupe Magdalena Molina Vásquez gains a bad reputation in her town. She's a rebel, and rejects the traditional options open to women in the town of Teatlán, Mexico. She dreams of a different life for herself.
The attentions of an older man provide Guadalupe with enough money to escape once his wife finds out about their trysts. Outside of the barrio, she struggles from job to job, falling prey to people who attempt to exploit her naiveté.
Eventually, Guadalupe's love of art comes to her rescue and she takes up the occupation of volunteer guide at the Palacio de Gobierno, posing as a student at the University of Guadalajara. Through this position she meets a businessman who becomes her true love, but when she takes him to meet her family, Guadalupe realizes that labels assigned to you when you were young are difficult to shake, especially when you grow up in a small, insular town where few people leave.
This is a sensitive story of escape and homecoming -- not quite a coming-of-age story, but evocative of personal growth, family ties, identity, and how all are inextricably linked.
This is Gershten's first novel.
