Review: Narcisa Our Lady Of Ashes by Jonathan Shaw

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MHaswell15
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Review: Narcisa Our Lady Of Ashes by Jonathan Shaw

Post by MHaswell15 »

Told in the first person, Narcisa Our Lady of Ashes is the story of Ignacio Valencia
Lobos aka Cigano and his dysfunctional relationship with Narcisa, a self-destructive,
crack addicted prostitute he meets upon his return to Rio de Janiero.

Set in the seedy underbelly of the streets and jungles of Rio de Janiero, anarchy
rules and sex and drugs are common place, Ignacio simultaneously battles Narcisa's
demons as well as his own in a futile attempts to save the woman he loves. And hates.

Narcisa's landscape is vividly described as only a true native of Rio can illustrated it,
from the noisy, filthy streets to the deepest, darkest parts of the jungle where the
hardest of the locale's criminal element hide are vibrantly laid out and lends cohesiveness
to one of the most bizarre love stories every told.

The theme that runs throughout this dark tale is forever about the redemption of two
woefully broken people and how one sacrifices their mind, body and soul in order to save
someone who is too far gone to be rescued.

I found this book to be as raw and intense as the author himself. Once I started
reading Narcisa, I couldn't stop, much like seeing a terrible car crash and being
unable to look away. While I found Narcisa herself to be nauseating and weak,
I felt a deep sympathy for Cigano and felt frustrated for him when his efforts to
save the love of his life were thwarted time and time again.

Jonathan Shaw's writing is equal to that of some of the greatest outlaw writers
such as Hunter S. Thompson and Charles Bukowski. I highly recommend this
book to anyone who is a fan of unabashedly honest, gritty, blood and guts fiction.
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