“Jennifer Givhan has invoked a delectable spellbinder. River Woman, River Demon is a conjuring of equal parts murder mystery, brujería, sex and romance, hauntings and terror, femme empowerment, all with a dash of Northern New Mexican cooking. ¡Buen provecho!” —Ana Castillo, award-winning author of So Far from God
“I never thought I’d see the Great Mexicali Novel. Jennifer Givhan teaches us new things about borders, including the shadowy borders of the mind. Intense.” —Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The House of Broken Angels
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RIVER WOMAN, RIVER DEMON from Blackstone Publishing is a genre-blurring psychological thriller with an unstable Latina & indigenous mama protagonist that weaves together threads of folk Magick and the horror of everyday life in the margins with personal and cultural empowerment.
My first novel Trinity Sight won the Southwest Book Award, and I am an NEA and Emerging Voices fellowship recipient, a poet and novelist drawn to the stories of my indigenous Ancestors, primarily in the Southwest along the US-Mexico border.
I create Latina and Indigenous thrillers that overturn concepts of the borderlands and re-envision what’s possible in these liminal spaces. My protagonists are strong women who are transformed and, via magical realism, change the world around them.
At its heart, River Woman, River Demon is a ghost story of redemption and reclamation of one’s own unique voice.
The San Diego Union-Tribune writes:
“Now comes “River Woman, River Demon,” which was recently nominated for a New Mexico-Arizona Book Award. As we watch Eva struggle to defend her husband, protect her kids and fight off the ghosts in her head and the gaslighting enemies in her life, we get to see what happens when a literary sorceress throws poetry, magic, motherhood and misogyny into a cauldron, turns up the genre heat and lets it all boil.”
“Featuring lush, evocative prose and beautiful, detailed descriptions of people and places, the book is difficult to put down.” -Foreword Starred Review ✯
“Interwoven with magic of both Mexican and Indigenous origins, this haunting tale will sweep up listeners. Recommended for fans of Rudy Ruiz and Silvia Moreno-Garcia.” —Library Journal
“Compelling, riveting, swimming in gritty feminine power. This is a twisted story of passion, mental fortitude, deception and guilt.” -Goodreads Reader
Get an exclusive sneak peek of the first chapter!
Find out more about RIVER WOMAN, RIVER DEMON!
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About Me
I’m Jenn Givhan, poeta novelista curandera healing generational trauma in the desert. The author of eleven books, I empower girls, women, and femmes to release shame and reach our dreams through our creativity. In my own life, I do this through poetry, fiction, essays, coaching and mentoring, and teaching classes! I raise my two beautiful children beside the Sleeping Sister volcanoes in New Mexico. Read more
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