THE BRUJO’S WAY (2013)
Gerald McFarland1
Sunstone Press, 310
pp. ISBN: 978-086534995
* * * *
Gerry McFarland merges academia and imagination. Before his
retirement, McFarland taught courses in the American West at the University of
Massachusetts Amherst, research he brings to bear in his debut novel. He’s published
four academic tomes and scores of academic articles and reviews. Those familiar
with scholarly writing will want to know whether he can crawl down from the
ivory tower and write for the masses. The answer is yes. In fact, one of my few
criticisms is that sometimes he’s guilty of a bit too much middlebrow
sentiment.
This is the first of a planned trilogy on Don Carlos
Buenaventura, a brujo (sorcerer). The
novel opens in Mexico City in the year 1684, when our protagonist is a
19-year-old son of Spanish nobility. Actually, only Don Carlos is 19; his body hosts
a sixth-generation brujo. Think Star Trek’s Trills, a joined species in
which symbiants inhabit new bodies when the old one dies. Like Trills, a brujo has dual consciousness; he or she
has the collective memories of past lives, yet experiences the yearnings,
thoughts, musings, and sensations of the host. Unlike Trills, a brujo’s past memories, skills, and
lessons are hazy, must be rediscovered, and can only accessed when consciously
overcoming mortal temptations such as sexual desire, materialism, bodily
comfort, status concerns, and other plebian distractions. This is a struggle for
Don Carlos, who has grown up with elite privileges and is used to getting what
he wants. He also has a decided weakness for, and considerable success with,
pretty women.
Don Carlos’ life takes a turn when his father dies and his
mother remarries. In a gendered twist on Cinderella,
Don Carlos finds himself under the cruel tutelage (and possible inheritance-squandering
behavior) of his stepfather. His stepfather’s tyranny encourages Don Carlos to
set off on the Camino Real (Royal
Road) toward Santa Fe, then a remote Spanish outpost surrounded by hostile
Native tribes–not all of whom were pacified by the 1680 Pueblo Revolt that nearly
eliminated Spanish rule from vast sections of today’s American Southwest. There
are other dangers as well. Don Carlos is a brujo
of the Sun Moiety whose motto is “Do no Harm,” but sorcerers of his ilk are
outnumbered by malevolent Moon Moiety brujos
that inconveniently show up. Moreover, brujos
good or bad had to hide their identities because the Spanish Inquisition made
its way to Mexico in 1569 and lasted into 1700. A brujo would certainly be considered a witch, and at least 50 people
were executed as such.
Don Carlos learns to recover some of his magical powers,
though he struggles to control his sexual lust. He meets and romances numerous
women, including a married woman who introduces him to Tantric sex, and another
who transforms from fencing partner to romantic interest, though she too might
be married and there may something even more sinister afoot. Don Carlos thrives
in New Mexico, but will he follow his heart or the brujo’s way?
McFarland’s work is enchanting in subject matter and in
tone. He creates memorable characters, including active female protagonists.
That’s not easy while being true to the machismo
paternalistic ethos of New Spain. McFarland also takes us inside the
mindset and magical battles of brujos,
which is to say he gives us glimpses of belief systems unfamiliar to most
readers. His literary style is inconsistent. Surprisingly for a historian whose
students considered him a great storyteller, McFarland’s ear for dialogue is
often stronger than his expository skills. Sometimes both he and his characters
lapse into lecture mode. Love scenes are also occasionally awkward–not
salacious or tawdry, but titillating and overwrought.
I see these as minor slips in a page-turner that comes at
magical realism in ways that emphasize the second factor more than the first. Who
can resist a book whose elements include magic, sex, violence, the peril-filled
beauty of the Chihuahuan Desert, and a journey to find destiny, virtue, and
honor?
Rob Weir
1 Full disclosure: I have known Gerry McFarland
for nearly 30 years–as mentor, colleague, and friend. You’ll just have to trust
me when I say I seek to review things as I see them. Those who’ve read this
blog regularly know that I don’t do
puff pieces!
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