Gringa in a Strange Land: 10/11/13

Gringa in a Strange Land by Linda Dahl is a historical novel set in and around Merida, Mexico. The novel covers approximately one year in Erica's life as an expat artist.

Now this book's blurb offers an exploration of the 1970s counterculture. Within the context of the Vietnam War, one would expect a protester, maybe with a boyfriend (or two) who are draft dodgers. Maybe some meditation to go with the mind altering drugs.

Instead, we get a washed out, well off, white chick going to the jungles of the Yucatan peninsula to drop acid, get laid and basically drop out of society. Sure, she sometimes slaps some paint on a canvas and sure she has learned the language well enough to get by, but she's basically there to make trouble.

She was a completely un-relatable character. The book is one long extended spring break. After struggling through the first fifty or so pages, I went into full skim mode. Although the location changed near the end of the book, Erica's behavior did not.

One star

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