No One Will See Me Cry

No One Will See Me Cry, Cristina Rivera-Garza, Curbstone Press, 2003

Set in the turbulence of 1920s Mexico, much of this novel takes place at an insane asylum. Joaquin Buitrago is a frail man with a long-term morphine addiction. In the past, he made a name for himself photographing prostitutes. Now, he has been reduced to taking pictures of inmates at the asylum, those who have been left behind as Mexico races into the future.

One day, he finds a familiar face before his lens. Matilda Burgos is a strong-willed prostitute who posed for Joaquin years ago. He asks the doctor for her file. In the meantime, they become acquainted and tell each other stories about a past they almost shared.

Matilda came from a poor farming family. Her father was a vanilla bean farmer with his own substance abuse problem. As a young girl, she was sent to Mexico City, to work and live in a big house belonging to an aunt and uncle, Rosaura and Marcos. He is a big believer in work and discipline being able to smooth the rough parts of any person's personality (like "My Fair Lady"). Matilda becomes his guinea pig. Along the way, she secretly nurses back to health, and develops romantic feeling for, a member of the political opposition. After a few years, she leaves to live on her own, and finds herself in a bordello.

This is a fine piece of writing. It look at people on the edges of society, in the midst of political turmoil, and explores 1920s conceptions of sanity. The author does a very good job throughout, and this is well worth the reader's time.