Miss del Rio by Bárbara Mujica

Miss del Río by Bárbara Mujica

Published by Graydon House ISBN 9781525899935

Trade paperback, $17.99, 432 pages

I enjoy a good historical fiction, especially if the subject is based on a real person. Bárbara Mujica's historical novel Miss del Río, is a fictionalized account of the life of Mexican actress Dolores del Río, who appeared in many Hollywood movies in the 1920s- 1940s, and became the first major Latina actress to find stardom there. 

 Dolores del Río led a privileged life in Durango, Mexico in 1910 as a young child. Her family had ties to high government officials, and her father was a wealthy banker. When revolutionaries led by Pancho Villa burned down expensive villas, Dolores escaped with her family to California. 

The beautiful Dolores met a director at a party who saw potential in her, and Dolores was on her way to appearing in motion pictures. Dolores' husband Jaime wanted to be a screenwriter, but his career did not take off like Dolores' did. 

Dolores was drawn to the glamour of Hollywood, but as a beautiful woman, she was also subject to its abuses by powerful men. While her professional life was blossoming, and she sucessfully made the transition from silent movie to "talkies", her private life was less than happy. She had a series of marriages that didn't work out as she didn't always choose her mates wisely. 

Dolores' story is narrated by her childhood friend Mara, who later became her hairdresser. (Mara is a fictional character.) Mara also fled Mexico, and the contrast between Dolores' life and Mara's life fuels much of this intriguing story. Mara had a happy marriage to a man she loved, and they had several children together. Dolores longed for children, but it was not meant to be. Mara and her husband struggled financially, Dolores had plenty of money. Mara was torn by her love and appreciation for Dolores and her disappointment in the way Dolores lived her life.

As her success in Hollywood waned, Dolores moved back to Mexico.  She became a big part of the Mexican film industry, making movies about subjects that mattered to her, instead of playing the stereotypical roles she was being offered in Hollywood. She had her share of dealings with difficult filmmakers in Mexico  as well.

Plenty of famous people make cameos in Miss del Río. Dolores was good friends with Marlene Dietrich, had a torrid love affair with Orson Welles, and became enchanted with Frida Kahlo when she returned to Mexico. (Mujica wrote a fantastic historical novel Frida as well that led to Miss del Río.)

A good historical fiction always has me wanting more, and I immediately began to search out more information on Dolores del Río. If you liked Adriana Trigiani's All The Stars In The Heavens and Taylor Jenkins Reid's The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, (I loved both) you'll want to read Miss del Río. It's also a great read for Hispanic Heritage Month.

Thanks to Harlequin Books for putting me on their Fall 2022 Historical Fiction Blog Tours.

The Girl From Guernica by Karen Robards

The Girl From Guernica by Karen Robards

Published by MIRA ISBN 9780778309963

Hardcover, $27.99, 464 pages

Karen Robards’ riveting new historical novel, The Girl From Guernica, takes the reader inside the horror of the Spanish civil war in April 1937 when the residents of the small town of Guernica in Spain are terrorized by an air raid that drops bombs on the city setting it ablaze. Residents who try to flee are shot dead in the streets.

Sixteen year old Sibi wakes up trapped under the rubble of a building and is rescued by  Griff, an American military attaché . Sibi tells Griff that the planes were German planes, a fact she knows because her German father helped design them.  When Sibi tells a reporter the same thing, that the planes were German not Spanish as thought, that leads to trouble for Sibi.

Sibi’s father comes to Spain to take her and her sisters back to their home in Berlin where he continues his work on rockets. When the Nazi leaders read the reporter’s account of German planes bombing Guernica, suspicion falls on Sibi as the person who spoke to the reporter.

In order to save her family, Sibi lies and becomes a tool of propaganda for the Nazis. She is forced to speak to reporters and make filmed statements stating that it was Spanish planes who reigned terror on their own countrymen. 

When Griff reconnects with Sibi, she offers to spy on her father and his colleagues for the Allies. Griff reluctantly agrees, knowing that Sibi will be putting her life in danger, but as Sibi says, her life is already in danger.

The Girl From Guernica is a riveting, thrilling novel. Robards doesn’t let up on the tension from the horror of the bombing of Guernica to Sibi’s meetings with Nazi leaders to her attempts to get information to Griff to the suspenseful conclusion, and my heart was in my throat the entire time. 

As someone who knew little about Guernica outside of the famous Pablo Picasso painting of the same name, I found the premise of the story fascinating. Sibi and her family are characters that work their way into your heart as you root for them to survive “by whatever means necessary.” Fans of WWII historical fiction like The Nightingale and All The World You Cannot See  will want to put The Girl From Guernica on their TBR list.

Thanks to Harlequin Books for putting me on their Fall 2022 Historical Fiction Blog Tour.