WEAVING DREAMS IN OAXACA

Author(s): Karen Samuelson

Location(s): Mexico

Genre(s): Fiction

Era(s): contemporary

Visiting Oaxaca, Mexico, Frankie, a New York City professional dancer, grapples with trading her career in the spotlight for a lifestyle involving a mate and children. And visiting professor Mac finds himself jettisoned into an identity crisis after facing new family secrets. Enrique, a young DJ and mechanic in town, is avoiding the challenge of coming out as a gay man to his hostile father. This trio, immersed in their unique personal dramas, cross paths in the cobblestone streets and main plaza, or zócalo in Oaxaca.

Together they weave a colorful, complex tapestry of adventure, deceit, discovery, love and pain. For Frankie, her rewarding volunteer work at a local orphanage involves her with Enrique, the community, and a feisty little girl who tugs at her heart. Mac explores deeper into the Pre-Columbian culture he has studied. He discovers surprising revelations and family connections along the way that set up changes both for him and his wife in Massachusetts. Enrique faces up to his family drama, then finds both inclusion and a unique cultural group, the muxes, in nearby Juchitan.

When it’s time for Mac and Frankie to make their respective trips home, like Enrique, they have changed in fundamental ways. But back in the States, their Oaxacan odyssey continues to reverberate and change the course of their lives.

Review this Book