Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is fast-paced and gripping novel. Its a novel that you don’t want to put down once your start reading. The characters are unpredictable and the storytelling grabs you. The story takes place in 1971 Mexico City, loaded with historical setting and relevant pop culture. If you like noir genre, this is like 5 star read for you.
A homely secretary (Maite) is bored with her work and her life. She can’t make her daily meal and discovers her joy between the pages of romantic Comics. Maite is cat sitting for her neighbour when it becomes apparent that her neighbour has disappeared. Searching for a little adventure, Maite chooses to find Leonora and unwittingly throws herself straight forwardly into the center of a risky political conspiracy.
Elvis (member of the Hawks) – a government agency tasked with destroying proof gathered by the rebels. It came to their attention that Leonora has photos and he sets out to discover her before she can release them. In the hunt for Leonora, he starts following Maite and begins to form an obsession on her.
The story switches back and forth among Maite and Elvis and their particular Stories. However, I didn’t feel connected with any of the character and discovered Maite, whiny and repulsive. At the same time Elvis’ story felt like an action film which was engaging however not actually my style. “Velvet Was the Night” was also more political than I expected which was intriguing but additionally not something I would ordinarily decide to read about.
Overall “Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia” was a well written and intriguing and entertaining story. Even after, few things in this novel are out of my interests. The author is undoubtedly a gifted writer and I was impressed with just how different this book was from Mexican Gothic. I’m obviously looking forward to checking out her other Books now.
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