飓风季节 (2017)

Hurricane Season (Spanish: Temporada de huracanes) is the second novel by Mexican writer Fernanda Melchor, published in April 2017 by Literatura Random House. A nonlinear, third-person narrative, it focuses on the events surrounding the murder of the Witch of La Matosa, an impoverished fictional town in the state of Veracruz 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 Dublin Literary Award, and longlisted for the 2020 National Book Award for Translated Literature. A film adaptation of the same name, directed by Elisa Miller, was released by Netflix in 2023.

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 their grandmother's favorite. 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.

Munra is arrested after Yesenia's statement, but he claims not to know anything about the matter. He recalls days earlier having taken Luismi with his wife, Norma, to the hospital after she began bleeding and running a fever. They both quickly flee after child welfare services discover that Norma is thirteen years old. The next day, Munra finds Luismi in the courtyard observing a small object covered in blood that is buried in a hole in the ground. Munra is convinced that it is a work of witchcraft. After picking up Brando, a friend of Luismi, they pay Munra to take them to the Witch. Munra has been uncomfortable around the Witch ever since he found out she is a transgender woman. Luismi and Brando enter her house, and half an hour later they exit carrying out a bundle wrapped in cloth. Munra decides not to ask and takes them to the outskirts of town, where the boys dump the bundle in a canal.

Norma originally arrived in La Matosa after fleeing her hometown, having become pregnant by her stepfather, who had raped her for years. Luismi finds her crying in a park and decides to take her home. The two begin a relationship, but Luismi almost never wants to have sex with her. When Chabela discovers that Norma is pregnant, she takes her to the Witch to give her a potion that will induce abortion. In the early morning, the pains are so strong that Norma crawls out of bed and has an abortion in the middle of the patio, which she buries in a hole. The days pass by and Norma's pain and bleeding do not stop, so she is taken to the hospital, where they discover that she is a minor. She is relentlessly reproached by the doctors, but she refuses to capitulate and incriminate Luismi.

Brando's father abandoned him and his mother when Brando was a child. Brando could not put up with his mother's strong religiosity, so he joined the group of older boys in town, with whom he began to drink and take drugs at the Witch's house. They teach him that the best way to make money is by having sex with homosexuals, but Brando claims to be repulsed by the idea. When Brando hears Luismi sing, he begins to have erotic thoughts about him. He discovers that Luismi had an affair with one of the men who paid him. One day, when the two of them are drunk, they end up having sex. The next morning Luismi does not say anything, and Brando becomes obsessed with the incident. He fears that Luismi would disclose their affair to others, so Brando imagines ways to murder Luismi.

Brando attacks the man with whom Luismi had a relationship. The man then disappears, leaving Luismi devastated. Months later, Luismi tells them that he now has a wife and that he plans to quit using drugs. Brando remains obsessed with Luismi and proposes that the two of them steal from the Witch, who supposedly has a stash of hidden treasure. Brando suggests escaping together, although in his mind he is still considering murdering Luismi. Luismi initially refuses, but after Norma's abortion he becomes convinced that everything is the work of the Witch. Luismi goes with Brando and Munra to her house, where they beat the Witch until Brando savagely kills her. They uncover no treasure, so they return home, where they are arrested hours later. The police beat Brando to get information out of him about the treasure, but he has nothing. Days later, Munra and Luismi are taken to the cell, both with signs of having been severely beaten. Brando, full of love and hatred, is there awaiting Luismi.