Because I work in Harris County, the seat of Houston, and live in Brazoria County where my little hometown of Alvin is located, I belong to book groups in two counties. Both are reading

to celebrate the Gulf Coast Reads, a literary activity observed every October. Nine counties along the Texas Gulf Coast read the same book and hold book club discussions, lectures, brown-bag lunch meetings, and thematically related activities and events during the month.

Reminiscent of Cinderella, Casiopeia is a slave in her wealthy grandfather’s house, frequently tormented by her evil cousin, Martin. One day when the family has traveled to a nearby town for a festival, Casiopeia opens a locked trunk only to discover bones that are the remains of the god of death, Hun-Kame who had been imprisoned there by his twin brother, Vucub-Kame while he took over as ruler of the Underworld. Hun-Kame inflicts Casiopeia with a shard of glass which allows him to draw from her life force and restores him to a human form. One problem –he is missing an eye, an ear, a hand, and a special necklace.

The story is the quest to regain the missing body parts, “take revenge and reclaim” the throne of Xilbaba wrested from him years ago. It is a story of the strange relationship between the two main characters as they travel from Merida, then to Veracruz, and finally to Baja, California. Along the way, they meet zoot-suited demons, jazz playing underworld “gangsters,” and the women who serve and sometimes command them. Blood sacrifices are demanded, hungry ghosts seek to feed on Casiopeia, and Despair enters the story. It is a time of loud music, sexy dancing, and outrageous laughter and joy–The Jazz Age. Casiopeia learns to drive a new-fangled automobile, travels unchaperoned with a man, and even walks the Black Road in the Underworld before their journey is over. The ending is satisfactory and not what I had expected.

This is a special book, and reading it along with so many others simultaneously is a special experience.