"So Far From God" by Ana Castillo

Castillo's novel largely deals with borders and demarcations between languages (Spanish/English), culture (American/Mexican/Native American), genders (female/male), and nations (US/Mexico) to name a few. Like many works of magical realism, the narrative skips forwards and backwards in time to piece together the story of Sofia and her daughters in the unincorporated New Mexico town of Tome.

All of the aforementioned borders blur and/or break down. Spanish words and grammar (the use of the double negative) appear on most pages, and the characters to not identify with a single culture or nationality; gender roles are challenged by La Loca's masculine dress and Caridad's love of another woman. Other borders Castillo blurs are those between science and folk medicine, as seen in the episodes with the invisible surgeon, as well as between the sacred and profane, as seen in the chapter where the passion of Christ is commingled with the plight of the poor and the exploited worker.

The novel also pushes back against the status quo of a male-oriented society. For instance, one of Loretta's growing secrets was that she "planted and harvested according to the moon's cycles, not the sun's" (193), thereby challenging both accepted scientific techniques as well following a female's intuition, as represented by the moon. The novel also ends with the valorization of motherhood and communal togetherness rather than conflict; US wars account for the psychological problems of a number of male characters and also for the loss of Sofia's own daughter Esperanza.