'Malas' is a novel about womanhood, curses and family history in a Texas border town

Published June 6, 2024 at 9:15 AM EDT

Marcela Fuentes' debut novel, Malas, is set in a small town nestled on the border between Texas and Mexico. There, two vastly different women begin to uncover decades of secrets, town gossip and broken family histories wrapped up in rodeos, Chicano politics and a hardcore punk band. In today's episode, NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento speaks with Fuentes about the complicated ideals of womanhood in Mexican-American culture and the way her protagonists struggle to live their truths.

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