Book Review: Velvet Was The Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

 

Book Review: Velvet was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: https://t.co/y9S3sAlzEr

Short Review: 8.5 out of 10
1/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) July 30, 2021

Short Review (cont): A Noir/Thriller set in 1970s Mexico City, in which a man who fell into a gang hired by the government to break up left wing protests & a woman w/her life seemingly going nowhere wind up both chasing a missing art student. Very good in depressing fashion
2/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) July 30, 2021

Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on August 17, 2021 in exchange for a potential review.  I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.

Velvet was the Night is the most recent novel by Mexican-Canadian author Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Mexican Gothic, The Beautiful Ones, Untamed Shore, etc.).  Moreno-Garcia is the type of writer whose writing spans across genres, with her SF/F stuff hitting Romance, Magical Realism, Vampires, Coming-of-Age, Horror, etc.  Nearly all of it has a Mexican spin, being generally set in Mexico (The Beautiful Ones is the sole exception I think?), and each of these books has been incredibly well done, such that I've desperately tried to read her entire bibliography - even the non SciFi/Fantasy works, like last year's Untamed Shore.  And again it's all so good, so I will request anything of hers I see on NetGalley in a heartbeat.  

Velvet was the Night is another non-SciFi/Fantasy novel from Garcia, being instead a noir/thriller set in 1970s Mexico City, at a time when left wing and often student led protests were being met with resistance from government (and CIA) sponsored mobs, all in the name "fighting communism".  It's a fascinating novel in its two protagonists, one such goon - who fell into the role and would prefer to enjoy words and rock and roll - and a 30 year old secretary struggling to survive on her own terms in a world telling her she's too old and ungrateful to do so.  The two form a fascinating contrast even though they basically never meet (this is NOT a romance) on a hunt for a missing camera and woman in the middle of this political climate, and deal with powers from multiple sides all with their own agendas.  
-----------------------------------------Plot Summary----------------------------------------------
1970s Mexico City.  Left-Wing Protests are growing in size, to the consternation of the government and its supporters from the CIA, afraid of the specter of communism.  So the Mexican government forms a number of secret initiates to suppress these movements - such as the Hawks, a gang of goons who infiltrate the protests for the purpose of beating up protestors and journalists attempting to cover them.  

Elvis didn't want to be a Hawk - he just wanted to learn words and enjoy rock and roll, and maybe find love.  But the educational system rejected him and his attempt at love led him to a cult, and rock & roll got him beaten up by Hawks...although the fight he put up impressed their leader, El Mago, enough to hire him.  He doesn't like fighting, and especially doesn't like the bloodthirsty members of his group, but his unit leader shares an interest in culture....until he gets shot at a protest, leaving Elvis in charge and with a new mission: find an art student who has gone missing with photographs that could incriminate the government.  

That mission puts him on a crash course with Maite, a 30 year old secretary whose life seems to be going nowhere.  She may have a steady job, but she has no love life, her mother and society insists she's too old now for a man and a failure, she can't afford to pay her mechanic to get her car back, and she lives practically only for stealing small things from people she meets.  The only thing she lies for is the weekly romance comic Secret Romance, whose stories she devours and imagines for herself.  When Maite is asked by her neighboring art student to look after the student's cat, she thinks its an opportunity to make some money and maybe to steal something else.  But then the art student disappears, and Maite has to track her down to get her money, leading her into a mess of conspiracies and dangerous politics, and the attention of Elvis and his boss, the likes of which she is unprepared for..... 
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Velvet was the Night is a fascinating Noir/Thriller featuring a pair of characters who are seemingly floating through life in a cruel horrifying time in modern Mexican history.  A note once again: this is not a star crossed romance, and while the book seemingly puts its two protagonists on a potential collision course early, such a collision practically never occurs.  Instead, this is the story of a country torn apart by foreign influences, by corrupt politicians fearful of "left" wing influence and people hunting for change, and of ordinary people caught up in and on the sidelines of it all.  There's a bit of Burn After Reading in here too, in how Maite stumbles through it all, but whereas in BAR that was played for dark comedy, here it's played for bittersweet tension.  

It works really because of two things: the setting being so strong (being based in real history) and the two main characters are really well done.  Let's start with the characters, both of whom are similar in that they have essentially floated through life into an unsatisfactory status quo, even if those status quos are very different.  Maite left her mother, even though that's not done for a single woman, she tried to get freedom through a car (which she can't afford maintenance of, so she can't actually use it), and she seems unable to settle down due to falling for a charming young man when she was young instead of a stable man who wanted her, and was left behind and lonely as a result.  She's opinionated about other people, even though she keeps herself ignorant of the politics of the world, but she simply wants the freedom to want more, to enjoy music and romance, instead of a boring job with no opportunities for anything - and so the most thrills she gets are from her romance comics and petty thievery from people who give her access to their things.  She didn't intend to get into this living situation, but now that she's in it, she basically can't get out....so when the neighbor's catsitting assignment turns into something more, she briefly begins to believe (although it's first about the money) that there might be something adventurous and fun out there.....

By contrast Elvis seems very different, in that he's a goon for a man in charge of a secret political organization to discredit left wing activists but really he's the same as Maite.  Elvis wants to be a man of culture and intelligence, but he was kicked out of school when his dyslexia essentially made his grades problematic for a school that wanted to look good, despite his obvious intelligence.  He wants to travel, he wants to enjoy his music collection of American rock, despite the government's propaganda that such music is a sign of left-wing and communist activity, and he doesn't really want to be violent...it's just there's no other job left for him.  Chasing romance got him into a cult, and trying to make an earnest living got him beat up, so he's left working for a political elite in an underground violent mob movement with tie to the CIA.  And so when he winds in up in charge of a team of violent people, and finding out that his boss may have betrayed the one person who he liked in his team, a man of culture, it eats away at him....but what else can he do when all his floating has left him nowhere without anywhere else to go?  

Both Elvis and Maite are floating around in a Mexico City that is corrupt, that is influenced by both the KGB and the CIA, and is on the verge of atrocities in the name of avoiding change.  And all these atrocities are pointless, like their lives seemingly, just for the benefit of those in power who don't really want to share that power.  And for the majority of people around Mexico City, those who keep their head down and don't pay much attention, it might as well not be happening, which just allows these atrocities to go on unscathed.  And so Maite and Elvis get into bloody situations, bloody scraps, and after it all, there's nothing really to come from it.  It all was for nothing.  Except maybe the two of them might be able to make something out of their lives.....but probably not.  

It's a fascinating look at a time most American readers will not be familiar with, and Moreno-Garcia illustrates its banal horror so well.  It makes this book work and makes it all worth your time as a reader.  Recommended.