Hurricane Season

Hurricane Season is the second novel by Mexican writer Fernanda Melchor, published in April 2017 by Literatura Random House. It is a nonlinear narrative and a third-person narrative. It focuses on the events surrounding the murder of the Witch of La Matosa, an impoverished fictional town in Mexico through which Melchor explores violence and machismo in Mexican society. The novel was a critical and commercial success, solidifying Melchor as one of the most acclaimed Latin American writers of her generation. It has been translated into German by Angelica Ammar, and into English by Sophie Hughes. The novel was awarded the 2019 International Literature Award, shortlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize and the 2021 International Dublin Literary Award, and longlisted for the 2020 National Book Award for Translated Literature. Plot One day, a group of children from the small town of La Matosa discover a decomposing corpse in a canal belonging to the Witch of the town. The Witch was a feared and respected woman who everyone turned to for help with their various problems. She lived in a large dilapidated house where she held parties with the village youth, to whom she paid money in exchange for sexual favors. A girl named Yesenia lived with her grandmother and her cousins near the Witch. Throughout her life, Yesenia felt rejected by her grandmother in favor of her cousin Maurilio (nicknamed Luismi). She hated Maurilio because, despite having become an alcoholic and drug addict, he was still the favorite of their grandmother. Luismi eventually moves in with his mother, Chabela, and his stepfather, Munra. Months later there are rumors that he has a wife and is expecting a child. On the day of the murder, Yesenia watches from her house and sees Munra's truck parked at the house of the Witch. She then sees Luismi with another man carrying a bundle to the vehicle. Yesenia informs the police of everything she saw, with the intention of having her cousin arrested.