Eva Santos Moon is a wife, mother, and glass artist who also practices the ancient ways of brujería and curanderisma. As the anniversary of her childhood best friend’s death approaches, she continues to struggle with blackouts and depression – something she has secretly dealt with for years. Then one night, she finds her husband Jericho holding the bloody corpse of their best friend Cecilia in the river behind their house. When Eva calls the police, they naturally label Jericho as a suspect and take him into custody. He maintains his innocence, but Eva (and the authorities) continue to find evidence that is difficult to ignore. River Woman, River Demon by Jennifer Givhan follows an unstable bruja as she struggles to have faith in her husband while the truth from her past fights to resurface. 

For context, Jericho Moon is a black university professor, Eva is Latina, and their now-deceased friend was white. Already Eva understands that the justice system will not naturally lean in their favor, aside from the damning evidence the authorities have against him. After he is taken into custody, Eva must figure out how to maintain the household for the sake of their children, and also avoid becoming a suspect herself. However, when the police find naked pictures of Cecilia in the glovebox of Jericho’s car, Eva begins to question his innocence herself, even if Jericho insists he has been faithful and didn’t hurt their friend. 

In addition to the unfortunate chaos Eva finds herself in, a lot of memories from her past begin to resurface – after all, Cecilia’s death is eerily similar to that of Karma, her best friend who drowned when they were 15 years old. And Eva was accused of killing her back then. She only had her sister, Alba, and her other best friend and boyfriend, Sammy – although Sammy disappeared years ago and she hasn’t heard from him since. Now she finds herself in a similar situation, only now she must dig up the memories and embrace her inner bruja to bring the truth to light and keep her family safe. 

River Woman, River Demon is a different kind of psychological thriller. Givhan is also a poet, and you can tell she brought some of that lyrical and sensual style to tell this story. The witchcraft, Hoodoo, and ancient healing practices from her and her husband’s culture add a unique spin to her character arc and how she discovers the truth of her past and present. She questions herself and makes questionable decisions, but that just adds to her relatability. I also really liked her children, Ximena and Xavier, who prove to be important pieces to the big picture as well. 

Jennifer Givhan joins us for a Cantina Conversation to talk about her background and the significance of Eva finding her voice. Keep an ear out for an upcoming episode of The Nerd Cantina Show podcast and preorder River Woman, River Demon, available October 4.