Gabriela and the Widow
The Widow (La Viuda) is ninety-two years old. She lives in a house filled with photos and coins, jewels and a sable coat. Aware that her memory is failing but burning with desire to record the story of her life on paper, she hires Gabriela, a nineteen-year-old Mixteca from Mexico. Gabriela is one of the few survivors of a massacre and treacherous journey to El Norte. Gabriela and the Widow is a story of chaos, revenge, and change: death and love, love and sex, and sex and death. Gabriela seeks revenge for the destruction of her village. The Widow craves balance for the betrayals in her life. In the end, the Widow gives Gabriela the secret of immortality.
From the Opening
And She Left the Dying World
“The year the war ended, Gabriela led her sick mother out of Tepeñixtlahuaca. The bones of the villagers still had meat on them then and the hearths still had fire in them but the retreating soldiers had chased away the skinny dogs and burned the houses. Scattered in the jungle, the bodies of young women had been left to rot. The young men had been killed or turned into soldiers who had, in their own time, committed atrocities.”
Full reviews
This is an inspired novel, and Annette Romano, the reader, gives light to its many layers. I recommend savoring the audio in short sections, for the dying widow’s recitation of her refulgent life to nineteen-year-old Gabriela is so rich in detail and connotation that her diurnal pacing recommends an optimal listening experience. “I’m speaking in metaphors, child. One of these days you’ll learn the subtleties of masked discourse when you say one thing and mean another. The French insist that to be an educated and cultured person you must master the art of never saying what you mean.” “Gabriela and the Widow” is that rare work of literary fiction that wills the reader to return yet again for a deeper insight into La Viuda’s soul, immortalized by its author’s inestimable imagination and fired by his lyrical prose.
I was, I admit, somewhat astounded that a man could write with such insight into the private thoughts of women, particularly about their bodies and how it feels to be in a woman’s body—especially as she comes of age physically. However he accomplished this, he was successful, and we are brought into the worlds of the maiden, mother, and crone, as we see Woman in all her aspects through the story of these two mysterious women, who come together to begin a new life—the one that we finally come to believe Gabriela will experience, even as she finds a young girl to become her handmaiden as the book concludes.”
Remick laces Spanish and English dialogue, crusted agéd skin and voluptuous beauty, bloody violence and exquisite tenderness. As he blurs boundaries we are sucked into this story, chapter by chapter, until we too transform, we too feel we have glimpsed the answer to immortality’s riddles. Gabriela and The Widow is sure to hook readers who enjoy a well told and fascinating story where all the gem-like details fall together to form a rich and satisfying puzzle.
A lyrical treasure that paints a magical mysterious world of two women, so close they inhabit each others’ dreams and relive each others’ experiences …. This is a beautiful, horrific, captivating read full of the lights and colors, the smells and music of southern Mexico and central California.
The plot is complex and filled with revenge, sometimes sadness, and a level of mystery and intrigue that only a well versed and experienced author could accomplish …. A master tale by a master talent.
A gripping read…. Jack Remick has a gift with character creation. He portrays everyone sharply, even minor characters that we only meet in passing. We know exactly what makes them tick and whether we like them or not within a sentence or two. There is plenty of action, an intriguing plot and a lot of enjoyment to be drawn from this novel.
“His characters (from the main characters Gabriela and La Viuda to supporting/walk-ons) are vivid and bring their own background, even if we never learn what it is. The narrative captivates you and plays on all the emotions of each character.”
Top 3 things I liked about the whole book – This is an author who has unbelievable storytelling skills. The story was a fast read, entertaining and magical. The way he explored the relationship between these two women and shared it with the reader was fascinating. I highly recommend this book.
A reading from Gabriela and The Widow in memory of Verda Remick
A BOOK REVIEW
By Rebecca Graf
A book that is deep and more than just a story is a book that will stay in head for many years. I think I found such a book in Gabriela and the Widow.
Gabriela finds herself struggling to survive in her native land as war ends just as bloody as it started. She runs from one evil to find herself in the hands of another. Eventually, she makes her way to the states where she becomes the nurse/assistant of a dying widow whose life is many stories that would take years to tell.
It is through the widow’s telling of her life that Gabriela matures and discovers other worlds that expand the meaning of her own life.
The characters are very intriguing. They are not perfect. They are not all bad. I do think that the character, the widow, was the one that was the most well-developed. She shifted between her various mental states in a way that had the reader experiencing the same confusion, frustration, and admiration that Gabriela felt. I think every character in the book was interesting with hints of their own stories that could have been told in depth outside of this book. Each one showed they were more than a character helping the two main ones on their literary journey. They all had life.
The story is extremely captivating. You want to keep reading to find out what is next is store for the young girl and what new things she will discover with from the widow. Many times, the reader is taken into a dream world that connects the two characters and reveals much about their past and their future.
Overall, the pace is very slow. This is not an action story or a mystery. It is a drama that is emotional as well as verbal. You will find that you can easily set the book down at the end of each chapter and resume it quickly the next time you dive in. At the same time, you want to keep reading to see what will happen next.
Mr. Remick’s style is extremely interesting and had me scratching my head one minute and smiling the next. He mixes history in with psychological explorations of the characters. This is more than a simple story. This is a detailed examination of life.
There are some intense scenes that are not described in ways that are vulgar, but they do come close. Most words and used in a cryptic manner, but the reader would easily be able to understand them though Gabriela might not. There is a lot of Spanish in it, but translations occur throughout the story as Gabriela learns English.
If you like a deep book that will take you more than a day or two to read, I strongly suggest you check this book out. Mr. Remick is a master at writing.
Note: This book was received as part of a tour with no expectation of a positive review.
This review was formerly posted on A Book Lover’s Library.
Jack Remick Teaches Writing through Writing
BY ISLA MCKETTA, MFA, MARCH 10, 2013
The old adage, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach” does not at all apply to Jack Remick. Before I read Gabriela and the Widow, Jack taught me about writing with the insightful questions he’d ask after we read our work aloud during the long-standing writing group at Louisa’s Café in Seattle. Reading Gabriela was even more of an education in the subtleties of craft.
Significant Detail
Driven from her village in Mexico by a civil war that kills her family, young Gabriela faces many hardships. Remick uses details like a “cotton blouse embroidered by hand in the faint light of the evening fire” to convey tender allusions to what Gabriela’s life must have been like before the war. When La Patrona, a woman who has “rescued” Gabriela, then takes this blouse and says she will burn it, the reader has a deeper understanding of how fully the woman is stripping away the essence of Gabriela.
When Gabriela craves a pair of white Nikes, it is easy to see that what she is really craving is a life like the Norteñas who wear these shoes. Later, Gabriela will be coaxed into other shoes, but even then the Nikes serve as a grounding point to indicate how much Gabriela is changing.
Objective Correlative
Terrible things happened to Gabriela when the war came to her village. Remick could have detailed them and we’d be struck by the horror without ever really getting inside Gabriela’s experience. Instead, Remick creates a correlation in Gabriela’s mind between toads and the horrible events—events that she refuses to quite remember. The reader sees her visceral reaction over and over anytime toads cross her path and in this way learns to empathize with her.
Remick builds on Gabriela’s reaction to toads throughout the story. What makes this relationship for me is when Gabriela begins remembering times of innocence that involved toads as well. The glimpse at what life was like before is heartbreaking and the tension between the dark and light memories makes both exponentially more touching.
Myths Retold
Gabriela finds safety in the North where she takes care of an ailing widow whose memory is failing. Gabriela helps her work on a list of objects and photographs and what they meant in the woman’s life. In return, La Viuda teaches Gabriela about what it means to be a woman. Though La Viuda has a somewhat colored view of the experience of womanhood, she doesn’t let her life turn her into a Miss Havisham. Instead, La Viuda intersperses myths and stories of great women with her own stories. Through tales about everyone from Helen of Troy to Xipe Totec, she helps Gabriela create an identity based on strength and womanhood as she transfers her life force to the young girl.
There are hundreds of things I could say about the reasons I loved this book—like the way Gabriela and La Viuda seamlessly slip from English to Spanish and back in their conversations, the magical realism (especially in relation to mirrors), or how in answer to La Viuda’s aging forgetfulness, Remick creates a shifting repetition that grounds the reader and also builds the narrative. What you need to know is the elegant craft reveals just the right amount of information to engage you, the reader, in telling the story.
Jack Remick can teach and he can sure as hell write. Read Gabriela and the Widow and find the things that speak to your writing. You’ll fall in love with the story and you’ll be a better writer for it. Although my work schedule doesn’t allow for weekday afternoons at Louisa’s anymore, I am grateful I can pick up Gabriela and learn from her and from Jack any old time.
About Isla McKetta, MFA
Isla is the editor of A Geography of Reading. An alum of Goddard College, she blogs by day and writes novels by night. For her full bio, click here.
Get it Now!
Available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle.
293 Pages
Publisher: Coffeetown Press; Presumed First Edition (September 25, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1603811478
ISBN-13: 978-1603811477
From the Publisher
The novel is also available in multiple eBook and 6×9 trade paperback editions on BN.com, the European Amazons and Amazon Japan. Wholesale orders can be placed through info@coffeetownpress.com, Baker & Taylor or Ingram. Libraries can purchase books through Follett Library Resources or Midwest Library Service.
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