Velvet Was the Night

Velvet Was the Night, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Moody and suspenseful, poetic but not saccharine. Moreno-Garcia continues to impress me with her ability to set a historical scene, and the noir aesthetic and the 60s/70s pop cultural texture are so lovely. I love the complexity of the characters: Maite is so silly and so horny and a little bit of a creep, in spite of being a prim secretary, while Elvis is lonely and gentle and somehow stays idealistic, in spite of being a violent thug. Nobody is particularly good, and nobody is particularly wise; everyone is just trying to make it through the night. Well, trying to make it through the night and also to: get laid, fall in love, make a father figure proud, advance the revolution, escape from spies, escape from DFS agents, find the photographs, and stop taking care of her neighbor's damn cat.

Someone should turn Velvet Was the Night into a movie, actually. The sets alone would be worth it, let alone the drama.