KISSING THE VIRGIN'S MOUTH
by Donna M. Gershten
HarperCollins, 228 pp.
Kissing the Virgin's Mouth is the richly sensual debut novel of writer Donna M. Gershten. In it, Guadalupe Magdalena Molina Vasquez traces her life from a poor, half-starved childhood in Teatlan, Mexico to prosperity on the tails of well-off men in her own country and the United States. Driven by the sheer instinct to survive, Magda uses what she has – sharp wits and long shapely legs – to launch herself into a new life.
At first Magda's goals are modest – to eat meat, fruit and vegtables every day. But as the hunger in her belly subsides, her appetites grow. Eventually she is transported as far away as Moscow, Idaho with her American husband. But her old habits and Mexican heritage drive her home. Back in Mexico she faces her fading looks and develops a new strategy to survive – opening a business.
This story is about a woman who refuses to become a victim. She learns the ways of the world and accepts them, making them work for her. She has seen her mother and aunt suffer at the hands of men, and refuses to live like them. Her views contrast sharply with her American-born daughter. "Martina with her own ways in the world. She had things so easy she makes them hard." Magda says this of her daughter as the girl swears at cat-callers. It's the kind of attention Magda has always welcomed.
This story is easy to read and hard to put down. Sex courses through it like a pulse, and it has a very Latin flavour. A distinctly different view of the world from a perspective, it offers a taste of Mexico that won't be found in most travel brochures. Kissing the Virgin's Mouth provides a glimpse of a hard life that is nevertheless rich in things we are not so used to – culture and raw human contact .
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