Ana Catalina Reynoso De La Garza’s A LIQUID FANTASIA: Under the Rain is a story about five women (and a girl) meeting in a cybercafé and becoming unlikely friends. The six of them couldn’t be more different. While Lola is young and vulgar, Ms. Maddie is a prim and proper middle-aged housewife. Evie is a neurotic, self-absorbed beauty, while her nine-year-old daughter Dot is painfully shy. The oldest among them is Marina, an artist who runs a guesthouse. Finally, there’s Alicia – the story’s narrator and the owner of the cybercafé who unintentionally brings the others together. Regardless of their differences, these women have at least one thing in common: they were all hurt by cheating lovers, cruel parents, and life itself. And so, they turn to each other for support.

The author presents her protagonists as believable, imperfect human beings. She recognizes the way abuse can turn victims into future abusers. And yet, even though her characters are flawed, they aren’t irredeemable. De La Garza demonstrates a deep and humane belief in people’s ability to admit their mistakes and learn from them. After all, humans are social animals: our relationships with others can change us for better or worse. Equally important, her characters can find happiness and fulfillment outside traditional institutions like marriage and family.

The story takes place in a town called San Miguel de Allende. The author immerses us in a comfortably rustic world of open-air markets, cobbled streets, and freshly brewed coffee. Our narrator Alicia moves to Mexico from the United States after a bad breakup, craving the sun and warmth of the desert. Instead, she experiences historically unprecedented torrential downpours. The weather becomes a central motif of the novel, reflecting the events and particular moods. In addition, the rain becomes an allegory for relationships, loss, and the ever-changing nature of life. De La Garza compares her novel to a musical composition and it reads like a symphony of emotions, sights, tastes, and colors. It is a warm, delicious experience – a story about friendship and empowerment that soothes the reader. This reviewer can’t recommend it enough.

A symphony rich with colors and emotions, Ana Catalina Reynoso De La Garza’s A LIQUID FANTASIA: Under the Rain is a lyrical, warm, and humane story about female friendship and empowerment.

~Danijel Štriga, for IndieReader