The Gifted Gabaldón Sisters by Lorraine López

Sisters Explore Magical Gifts Family Friend Has Left Them

Oct 19, 2008

The four Gabaldón sisters believe their mysterious grandmother Fermina has bestowed special gifts on them. They research her Pueblo history and discover a family secret.

The Gabaldón Girls

After losing their mother while most were in early childhood, the Gabaldón girls - Bette Davis Gabaldón, Loretta Young Gabaldón, Rita Hayworth Gabaldón, and Sophia Loren Gabaldón - are devastated to lose Fermina, the family’s housekeeper and the girls’ surrogate grandmother.

Upon her death, Bette and Loretta decide to share with their sisters that Fermina has left them all with a special gift, each unique to themselves. As they get older, each one’s power begins to emerge – Bette, the oldest of the girls, can tell lies that people find believable; Sophie, the youngest, can make everyone laugh; Loretta, an animal lover, can heal animals; and Rita can offhandedly put a curse on anyone she wishes to.

A Gift or a Curse?

As the girls grow older, they each begin to learn the truth about the gifts that Fermina has left them, and that these gifts become more complicated and confusing over time. What’s more, as they delve deeper into their gifts, they also learn more about their care taker, the mysterious Fermina, a Pueblo woman who shared their house with them, and the truth about her past and her legacy. During their research, a family secret emerges that’s older than the New Mexico desert and changes each girl’s life in one way or another.

Each chapter in the book is written from a different sister’s perspective, over a period of 20 years, from 1966 to 1987. Each girl remembers their mother differently, and their take on the woman is the thread that ties them all together.

Between chapters are fascinating excerpts that shed light to the reader on Fermina’s life, beginning in the 1930s, taken down by a data collector from Work Projects Administration.

About Author Lorraine López

Lorraine López is an assistant professor of English in the Creative Writing Program at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. In 2003, she was awarded the Independent Publishers Book Award for Multicultural Fiction, given by the Jenkins Group, for her collection of short stories, Soy la Avon Lady and other Stories.

The same work also won the 2003 Latino Book Award for Short Stories, awarded by the Latino Literary Hall of Fame. In 2001, she was given the Inaugural Miguel Marmol Prize for Fiction, selected by Sandra Cisneros and awarded by Curbstone Press, for a first book-length work of fiction of a Latino/a writer. She has also published Call Me Henri, a novel for young adults

The copyright of the article The Gifted Gabaldón Sisters by Lorraine López in American Fiction is owned by Teresa Shaw. Permission to republish The Gifted Gabaldón Sisters by Lorraine López in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.