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This was a fascinating book and very different from what I was expecting. For a start it's a historical novel set in the real world, in which ancient curses work and characters are visited by visions of their ancestors and deities, but it's far too realistic to be classified as magical realism. Perhaps because they are based on real figures, characters are complex and don't fall into neat narrative categories. Don Alonso is a harsh domestic tyrant who came closest of any of the conquistadors to recognise the humanity of the people he ruled over. Catalina struggles to reconcile the two sides of her heritage as a descendant of both colonisers and the people they almost eradicated, makes mistakes and occasional selfish decisions, often as a result of the way the society in which she is raised denies women agency.

I initially thought the book was leaning into the historical fiction trope of the love triangle, which then became a love square I suppose as another eligible male candidate presented himself, but refreshingly this then took a very unexpected turn and none of the characters behaved in stereotypical ways. Peoples' reactions to events felt very flawed and real. For me I think part of the appeal of fiction is that in a harsh and unfair world we can imagine things being better, and for that reason I found it a little unsatisfying how often sad situations occurred and close relationships were not mended because people couldn't trust and open up to one another, but that undeniably adds to the realism. It was refreshing too to see a more realistic depiction of people experiencing guilt, trauma and acquiring disabilities as a result of awful events, rather than carrying on as so often happens in escapist fiction.