María de Lourdes

Victoria

I am a bilingual writer born and raised in Veracruz, Mexico, currently residing in the state of Washington. I write novels, short stories and children’s books. I wrote my first novel, Los Hijos Del Mar (The children of the sea) because I wanted my sons to know their ancestry and to be proud of their heritage. The story, set during the late nineteenth century in México and in Spain, is based on the lives of my ancestors, the Victorias, who made a name for themselves in México’s pharmaceutical industry, and the Muguiras, Spanish immigrants who found success cultivating and trading coffee seeds. The novel weaves both families’ sagas into a shared destiny and their intertwined tales becomes, finally, the love story of my parents. Click here to read a chapter of Los Hijos del Mar.

My second novel, Más allá de la Justicia (Beyond Justice) is a farewell to my former profession as a litigator. Through the first-person narrative of my three characters, I bring my reader into the harsh world of our criminal justice system, the complex lives of the accused, and the people who work, relentlessly, in the pursuit of justice. While the novel is not a memoir, my work as a public defender influenced my writing, and the process became therapy, allowing me to understand how the experience had shaped me. Click here to preview Mas Alla De La Justicia

A number of literary journals have published my short stories. The theme that seems to permeate my prose in that genre is the struggle that Latinos face in the United States. My characters are often working women trying to survive in a country that is not their own. The inspiration for the stories often comes from the people I try to help in my current work as a mediator.

I particularly enjoy writing for children. I find the process uplifting, and a good source of balance, especially when the substance of my adult work is often dark, and daunting. The more I explore and learn about this genre, the more it calls to me, especially when I am around my grandchildren, who are my best, and most devoted audience.

 

LA CASA DE LOS SECRETOS (THE HOUSE OF SECRETS)

TWO DECISIVE HISTORICAL MOMENTS FOR MEXICO. TWO LIVES UNITED BY A SECRET. AN EXCITING AND ENIGMATIC NOVEL.

Patricia lives in an old hacienda in Oaxaca that was the scene of her family's old splendor. She has dedicated her life to keeping the house afloat and taking care of the old Cienne, with whom she has long conversations that, without imagining it, will lead her to unravel the scandalous secret that hides the true history of her lineage. Thus, he will undertake a painful journey to the past where he will discover a promise made in times of war, which marked his future and that of his family forever.

Set in two fascinating historical moments, the American intervention and the Revolution, The House of Secrets is a novel full of passion, ambition and mysteries, which immerses us in the most exquisite Oaxacan traditions, its exotic parties, the unmistakable smell of coffee and the sweet taste of ancestral dishes.

The story is fascinating! The jumps between generations and several locations can be challenging. On occasion, the author gets lost in the description forgetting for a moment the story.

-R. Silva

 

Los Hijos Del Mar (I Leave You The Sea)

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 Review from Amazon: Five Stars

This is a great generational story of a family in Veracruz, Mexico in the 1920s. Each chapter is a vignette of a moment in one character’s life. The saga begins with the tough-as-nails Spanish matriarch who moves to the far-away and fabled Yucatan after she is widowed. Each character is painted deftly with a sure brush stroke, as the maiden great-aunts, Chola and Judith, who are funny, practical and terse in their explanation as to why little María didn’t get any Christmas presents. The most sympathetic character is Licho, the sensitive, observant boy believes his teacher when he tells him that he has the hands of a surgeon and then goes on to go to become a doctor. With all the current craze for genealogy and DNA analysis, as with Lisa Kudrow’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” and Henry Louis Gates’ “Faces of America”, this book is timely. N. Smith

- Amazon Review (Five Stars)

Review from Criticas Magazine:

“The knowledge that the events in these vignettes are true imbues the novel with a palpable life force and the reader partakes in all of the family’s joys and sorrows… Throughout, the author’s love and pride shines through in her descriptive language.”

- Criticas Magazine (January 15, 2007) Reviewer Lisa Carter

Mas Alla de la Justicia (Beyond Justice)

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Review from the King County Bar Association

The King County Bar Association reviewed Mas Alla de la Justicia (Beyond Justice). Read the full review here.

“How can you defend someone who is guilty?”; “How can you help someone ‘get away’ with a crime you know they committed?” The novel asks these questions through the cases the characters ultimately resolve…The layers of complexity (in the novel) are exposed, as sometimes those same rights are at odds and can pull at each other… There are no easy answers.

Excerpt of the King County Bar Association interview of Maria de Lourdes Victoria – Read the full article in the blog.

Review from Dr. Rita Wirkala, PhD

“Más allá de la justicia is a novel in three voices that narrates, from different perspectives, the intricacies of a judicial system in the United States, at times verging on the absurd. María de Lourdes Victoria is a masterly narrator who has the ability to recreate characters who have perhaps crossed her path, to insert them into this extremely interesting and rich novel.

Dr. Rita Wirkala, PhD, Author and Professor, University of Washington

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