The Scissor Man

by Jean Arnold

Angry and rebellious Octavia, the daughter of a Mayan physician, is repelled and seduced by the rich culture of her native Central America, a land that becomes even more sexually charged with the arrival of her cousin, Julian

287 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Sarah ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

euh ça parle pas de cul et d’éveil sexuel mais d’abus et d’inceste….. genre la vibe est horrible ?????
sinon bien écrit et tout
juste le mari il est à vomir il a 0 empathie et j’espère la girlie verra une psy bref

[Lynne Dixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A magical realism coming of age story set on the island of Caracol in Central America where unspeakable things happen.

[Michael Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magic realism by someone who isn't Gabriel García Márquez, yet is as obsessed with Mexico and pubescence as he is. The Scissor Man is far more than an East Coast American woman's tale of Chicano chicken-blood household Santería (in the broader sense) - it is a genuinely scary reflection on the mixture of joy, horror and turpitude that is childhood. One of my favourite scenes in *any* genre of the arts occurs in Arnold's book during a tropical storm that would make García Márquez proud, and never fails to make the hair stand up on my arms. Read. Never forget.