My Mother Cursed My Name

Reyes debuts with a lyrical multigenerational story about Mexican American women, each of whom carries a name that is both a curse and a secret magical power. Olvido flees Mexico to escape her mother’s debts. Years later, her daughter Angustias becomes pregnant at 16 and runs away from her controlling mother. A decade after that, Angustias’s 10-year-old daughter Felicitas, named for happiness but who always frowns, hopes to one day break from this pattern of desperate flight and find a stable home. Felicitas can see ghosts, and when Olvido passes away, she asks Felicitas to help her grandmother’s spirit move on. This layered and moving family novel balances humor and magic with its more serious themes. There are alternating chapters from each character’s perspective, narrated by Yareli Arizmendi as Olvido, Karla Serrato as Angustias, and Marisa Blake as Felicitas. Collectively, the narrators craft distinct character portraits, capturing each woman’s vivid personality. The audio is further enhanced by the seamless incorporation of Spanish words and phrases, as well as the haunting intro and outro music.