A review by jdscott50
The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

adventurous emotional informative slow-paced

5.0

Ingrid Rojas Contreras's debut novel Fruit of the Drunken Tree included autobiographical elements of her personal life. In this memoir, we learn the true story behind the story. We also learn the background of her family as healers. It includes the curious duality of an incident with Ingrid and one with her mother. Both had accidents where they lost their memory. When her mother was eight, she fell down a well. Her father rescued her, but she could not remember who she was. She even thought she was a ghost. This went on for six days. Afterward, they realized that she would be a healer. Ingrid ran into an open door while on her bike. She would also lose her memory for six months. She would not become a healer, but it triggers her journey to write about her family. 

Her family has generations of healers. Being a curandero is part witchcraft and part therapist. People cannot heal unless they heal mentally. Ingrid has to move her grandfather's grave as those who need their prayers answers continually bother the grave and will not let his soul rest. 

I really enjoyed the history of her family and Colombian Culture. I read Brenda Lozano's Witches earlier this year and enjoyed the mysterious and threatening nature of healing work.