Jorge, a Canadian professor of criminology, is honeymooning in west central Mexico with Rissa, his second wife, and her 10-year-old daughter, Kikki. He’s also pursuing, on behalf of PEN Canada, the case of Mono Loro, a Catholic priest who allegedly held up a bank but who’s actually been jailed, and tortured, for his subversive writings, including a biography, La Condesa de Michoacuaro. Jorge begins translating Loro’s biography, the story of an 18th-century noblewoman who was excommunicated for blasphemy. The Condesa’s story is framed by Jorge’s ongoing investigation of the Mono Loro case until the two stories stunningly interconnect when Kikki is kidnapped by a breakaway religious community.

The Condesa of M. is the second book in George Szanto’s The Conquest of Mexico trilogy. Here Szanto has neatly blended his own experiences as a representative of PEN’s Writers-in-Prison Committee with his obvious fascination with Mexico past and present. It’s a novel that moves from a gripping exploration of contemporary politics, cultural and social history, and the fanaticism of religious cults to a moving portrait of a family torn apart by the disappearance of a child.

As interesting as the contemporary storyline is, it is Condesa Maria Victoria’s tale that truly engages the reader. Szanto adroitly interweaves myth, legend, and romance into his vivid snapshot of 18th-century Mexico to create a captivating portrait of an extraordinary woman. In the end, Szanto connects past and present using a supernatural twist that is very much in keeping with a novel that is haunted by a fiercely independent and powerful woman.