cover image To a Widow with Children

To a Widow with Children

Lionel G. Garcia. Arte Publico Press, $19.95 (238pp) ISBN 978-1-55885-069-9

A shimmery magic-realism informs lives that would otherwise seem discouragingly impoverished and devoid of hope in this whimsical, mid-20th century love story, the fourth by Garcia ( Hardscrub ) . Maria, a beautiful young widow, lives in poverty in a tiny village on the Texas-Mexico border with her four children, who are endlessly mischievous, deceitful and destructive. She must do all in her power to keep the family together, especially since the local sheriff thinks the town would be better off if the children were sent to an orphanage. The arrival of Benjamin Argumedo, a handsome and courtly veteran of the Mexican Revolution, brings romance to Maria's life, but their relationship is complicated by a fat old sacristan's passion for Maria and by the pranks her children play, which include selling fake lottery tickets and stealing wool from a neighbor's sheep. The quiet life of the village is otherwise interrupted only by church raffles and weeks of rain, giving this slow-moving comedy a sultry atmosphere that enhances the erotic tension. (Mar.)