What I’ve Been Reading

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia was one of two books I picked up for myself on my birthday, which also happened to fall on Independent Bookstore day this year. This is Moreno-Garcia’s ninth book; I previously read Mexican Gothic. I don’t remember much about that book, but reading Silver Nitrate makes me want to go back and reread it, and pick up one of her other seven books.

Montserrat is an audio engineer surrounded by idiotic, back-slapping men, unable to break the glass ceiling. Tristán is her childhood friend, an actor whose career is haunted by a tragedy. When they meet Abel Urueta, a movie director whose career seemed to end as it was just getting off the ground, he introduces them to a cult with a Nazi sorcerer, Wilhelm Ewers, at its head. Convincing the two friends that an old, unfinished film is actually a spell interrupted by Ewers’ death, Abel enlists Montserrat and Tristán to help him finish the film. Afterward, the trio’s luck seems to turn for the better. But then, Montserrat starts seeing a shadow following her as she delves deeper into the cult’s magic.

I enjoyed this book a lot, even interrupted as I was by the medical issues with my eyes. The edition I got also includes the short story, “Flash Frame” by Moreno-Garcia, which was developed and expanded into Silver Nitrate. In the short story, there is no Tristán, and the narrator is the kind of Lovecraftian empty vessel for the story. If you’re interested in reading about how a writer thinks about and develops stories, I think Moreno-Garcia’s afterword is worth the cover price by itself.

As much as I enjoyed the book, I was left a little cold by the ending. I won’t spoil too much, but the main conflict of the story is resolved, as is Montserrat’s and Tristán’s relationship tension. What’s not resolved is Montserrat’s place in the boys’ club of audio engineering. This frustrated me because this was an important concern for the character through the majority of the book. I would have expected it to be part of the dénouement of the story. But such is life and stories.