Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
By Michael Attard
This book’s title is taken from a 1950s top-20 hit song. It has been re-recorded many times, and a 1963 version by Bobby Vinton reached number one. It is a love song of a jilted lover who sings, “But when she left, gone was the glow of blue velvet … I can still see blue velvet through my tears.”
The setting of the novel by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is Mexico City in the politically turbulent 1970s. But the reader needs neither an interest nor an understanding of Mexico at this time to become involved in the lives of the two protagonists with their unique but flawed characters. They are caught up in a storm whirling around them, but the real drama is imbedded in the dissatisfied lives that they lead. With no apparent options, they move with a flow that becomes increasingly dangerous.
Elvis, not his real name, is a 21-year-old ruffian who is recruited into a secret government-funded group called The Hawks, and after he fought bravely against thugs who interrupted his little business of selling stolen books and records. Thieving is his talent. Elvis is insightful enough to realize the irony in becoming a hoodlum who does not like to punch people. He does not know what he wants, but one thing is clear, there is no way he would ever go back to the place he came from.
Maite is a 30-year-old, bored secretary working at a lawyer’s office. She had had a couple of relationships, but they did not work out. These days the excitement in her life comes from romance comic books. After work, she “put on music, and pored over each panel … she gnawed at each word like a starving woman.” Her neighbor, a woman she barely knows, asks her to watch her cat for a few days and, needing the money, Maite agrees. In the woman’s apartment, “for all the Bohemian décor you could smell the money.” Maite likes to steal small things, and she looks around the apartment. She eyes a small plaster statue that already has a crack in it and decides to take it. Maite realizes that she does not really want the things she steals, but rather, “the thrill of possessing a secret.”
There are quite a few characters in the story, but they are introduced one at a time, so it is not difficult for the reader to keep track of who is who. The author gives us detailed information about each of these people, establishing a continually rising sense of personal involvement. As a chapter ends and the action moves to another setting, the reader holds a concern for these players until we meet them again. The author has fleshed out each personality to their optimal point of helping to tell the story.
After a few days, it becomes clear that Leonara, Maite’s neighbor, has disappeared under suspicious circumstances. We do not know if she is in hiding; perhaps she has been kidnapped or worse. Leonara purportedly has incriminating photos that right-wing government authorities want. Maite is suddenly suspected of being a radical activist and in danger, entangled in the affair through the simple act of caring for the cat.
Elvis is not interested in politics, but he follows his orders and puts surveillance on Maite. His love life, like hers, has not been great, but he too has a romantic side. While looking for the photos in Maite’s apartment, he discovers the album Blue Velvet, which he also owns and enjoys. He creates a mystique in his mind about this romance-comic-book-reading woman with a taste in music much like his own.
I think it is fair to say that there is an element of cloak and dagger in the story. We encounter surprising but plausible accusations. There are revelations which introduce a twist, but it is not clear in what direction the twist will turn. Add in the shocking exposing of a hidden identity, and the path toward the conclusion remains unpredictable. Plus, the author is deft at keeping romance alive through all of the intrigue. There are also violent episodes that aid in making the story real, creating tension and suspense without detracting from the story-line. The stress that Maite experiences is palpable. She knows that “it was all turning into a mess.”
The protagonist is Elvis’s boss, who goes by the name El Mago. Their relationship is complicated. In the beginning, Elvis does not see his boss as a role model, but he wants to have the things that El Mago has. Their association is dynamic, and Elvis is smart enough to read between the lines. One day, El Mago told Elvis to study the word “pawn.” “In that brief sentence … Elvis read the most cutting scorn. It reminded him of his mother, who called him a useless burden, of the teachers who called him stupid.”
People are killed, and the importance of the sought-after photos, once resolved, means that life can go back to what it was like before. But too much has happened. Who wants to return to the psychological penury that was theirs? Elvis follows Maite onto the bus. “Am I under surveillance again?”
“No. That’s all over.”
It was odd how she was not nervous, sitting there, talking to a killer.
Velvet Was the Night is Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s seventh book. She is a New York Times best-selling author. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The Reviewer
Michael Attard is a Canadian who has lived in Gwangju since 2004. Though officially retired, he still teaches a few private English classes. He enjoys reading all kinds of books and writes for fun. When the weather is nice, you may find him on a hiking trail.