Malia Márquez writes with compassion and precision, writes, to borrow words from these pages, ‘Like a song. “ This Fierce Blood is a wonder of a novel-at once epic and intimate, all of it deeply alive. Lily Brooks-Dalton, author of 'Good Morning, Midnight' A wholehearted debut with a whisper of magic and deep, twisting roots in the natural world, this novel announces the arrival of a very special writer.” By showing us all that separates these generations of Sylte women, Márquez deftly guides us toward what binds them. “ This Fierce Blood traverses time, culture, and distance with gorgeous, sure-footed prose and a compelling cast of characters. Peter Selgin, author of 'The Inventors' and 'Duplicity'

Márquez has written a singular and passionate first novel.”

But like voices in a chorus, united in the sublime oratorio that is This Fierce Blood, their tales strike chords, harmonies, and syncopations greater than the sum of their distinct parts. Taken individually, the stories of Wilhelmina, Josepa, and Magdalena are equally gripping. through the interwoven stories of three women spanning generations, Malia Márquez dramatizes these urgent-as-ever themes. “Passion, faith, identity, trauma, love, and loyalty. 'Malia Márquez’s intense multigenerational novel incorporates magical realism into its story of three women struggling with family and social expectations. Attentive to the pressures facing women across historical eras, the lush novel This Fierce Blood shows the power of strong women staying true to themselves.' Rich in historical and cultural detail, This Fierce Blood combines magical realism with themes of maternal ancestral inheritance, and also explores the ways Hispano/Indigenous traditions both conflicted and wove together, shaping the distinctive character of the American Southwest. Readers of Téa Obreht and Ruth Ozeki will find much to admire in this debut novel. As Magda struggles with both personal and professional responsibilities, the boundary between science and myth begins to blur. When Magdalena, an ecologist, inherits her great-grandmother Wilhelmina’s Vermont property, she and her astrophysicist husband decide to turn the old farm into a summer science camp for teens. Fighting for her family’s reputation and way of life, Sepa finds strength in worldly and otherworldly sources.

In 1927 in southern Colorado, Josepa is accused of witchcraft by a local priest for using the healing practices passed down from her Native mother. When she forms an inexplicable connection with a mountain lion and her cubs living near their farm, Mina grapples with divided loyalties and the mysterious bond she shares with the animals. In rural late-nineteenth-century New England, Wilhelmina Sylte is a settler starting a family with her Norwegian immigrant husband. A multicultural saga, This Fierce Blood follows three generations of women in the Sylte family.

This Fierce Blood by Malia Márquez