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The Many Mothers of Dolores Moore
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Table of Contents
About The Book
International Latino Book Award Gold Medal Winner
Winner of the Friends of American Writers Literature Award
For fans of Rebecca Serle and Elizabeth Acevedo, a “lyrical, poignant, and powerful” (Yamile Saied Méndez, award-winning author of All Roads Lead to Rome) work of magical realism about a woman’s journey to Colombia to discover her roots and what it means to carry our ancestors with us.
Dolores Moore’s dead relatives refuse to stay quiet. They trail after her like a Greek chorus with no respect for personal boundaries, filling her crumbling Victorian with unsolicited advice, family gossip, and increasingly urgent opinions about her return to Colombia—the birthplace she barely remembers.
Dorrie would rather stay in Minneapolis, where the problems are manageable: an ex she hasn’t forgotten, a cartography career that’s evaporated overnight, a creaky inherited house, and two needy orange cats. But when a cryptic hand-drawn map surfaces and an old flame offers to watch the house, the voices leave her no choice.
So begins a journey to Colombia guided by photographs of her mother, half-remembered stories about her father, and a little bit of magic as Dorrie searches for the truth about her family origins, her ancestral roots, and what’s been calling her to her rightful place.
Winner of the Friends of American Writers Literature Award
For fans of Rebecca Serle and Elizabeth Acevedo, a “lyrical, poignant, and powerful” (Yamile Saied Méndez, award-winning author of All Roads Lead to Rome) work of magical realism about a woman’s journey to Colombia to discover her roots and what it means to carry our ancestors with us.
Dolores Moore’s dead relatives refuse to stay quiet. They trail after her like a Greek chorus with no respect for personal boundaries, filling her crumbling Victorian with unsolicited advice, family gossip, and increasingly urgent opinions about her return to Colombia—the birthplace she barely remembers.
Dorrie would rather stay in Minneapolis, where the problems are manageable: an ex she hasn’t forgotten, a cartography career that’s evaporated overnight, a creaky inherited house, and two needy orange cats. But when a cryptic hand-drawn map surfaces and an old flame offers to watch the house, the voices leave her no choice.
So begins a journey to Colombia guided by photographs of her mother, half-remembered stories about her father, and a little bit of magic as Dorrie searches for the truth about her family origins, her ancestral roots, and what’s been calling her to her rightful place.
Appearances
Excerpt
Prologue PROLOGUE
When I was about fourteen or fifteen, I asked my mothers, “Do you ever hear ghosts?”
“Ghosts?” repeated Jane.
“Hear them?” asked Elizabeth.
My mothers were in the midst of their annual winter holiday decorating blitz, which involved equal measures of Midwestern traditions like the Norway pine and spritz cookies, and also kente cloth and a menorah. Jane had gone to an art fair and bought a Guatemalan nativity scene, which—despite being from the wrong country—was supposed to function as a connection to my roots. They knew their quasi-hippie holiday practice was both culturally appropriative and embarrassingly stereotypical for two middle-aged lesbians, but they had wanted to expose their daughter to as many rituals as possible.
“Right. People who are gone? Do they ever talk to you?”
“I don’t think so.” Elizabeth lit a candle in the menorah, and the smoke danced into the highest corners of the twelve-foot Victorian ceilings.
“Like who?” Jane was rearranging the nativity scene on the mantel.
“I don’t know.” I ran my fingers over the wooden ornaments. Mary, Joseph (whose staff was broken), a cow, a manger, and a donkey. “Just… just people who aren’t around anymore.”
“Dorrie, honey, do we need to take you to see Scottie?” Elizabeth had asked. Scottie was a New Age therapist to whom my mothers had taken me several times during my childhood. “Just a tune-up,” they would say brightly, and I would sit on his scratchy sofa and insist that I didn’t mind having two moms, that I wasn’t scarred from my unusual origins, and that I would tell someone if I felt like hurting myself.
“Never mind.”
The wooden ass clattered to the floor. Elizabeth extinguished the match in a vintage bubble-glass ashtray and bent to retrieve the figurine.
“I was just wondering.”
Even now, I can still smell the tree—a real one, of course—in my mothers’ Minneapolis house, see the lights twinkling like a miniature solar system. When I first studied the work of Claudius Ptolemy in college, I had been comforted by the geographer’s certainty, by his theory that the arrangement of the stars and planets overhead at the time you were born not only determined everything about you as a human but also situated your place in the world. Destiny set at birth.
But I was born far from here.
When I was about fourteen or fifteen, I asked my mothers, “Do you ever hear ghosts?”
“Ghosts?” repeated Jane.
“Hear them?” asked Elizabeth.
My mothers were in the midst of their annual winter holiday decorating blitz, which involved equal measures of Midwestern traditions like the Norway pine and spritz cookies, and also kente cloth and a menorah. Jane had gone to an art fair and bought a Guatemalan nativity scene, which—despite being from the wrong country—was supposed to function as a connection to my roots. They knew their quasi-hippie holiday practice was both culturally appropriative and embarrassingly stereotypical for two middle-aged lesbians, but they had wanted to expose their daughter to as many rituals as possible.
“Right. People who are gone? Do they ever talk to you?”
“I don’t think so.” Elizabeth lit a candle in the menorah, and the smoke danced into the highest corners of the twelve-foot Victorian ceilings.
“Like who?” Jane was rearranging the nativity scene on the mantel.
“I don’t know.” I ran my fingers over the wooden ornaments. Mary, Joseph (whose staff was broken), a cow, a manger, and a donkey. “Just… just people who aren’t around anymore.”
“Dorrie, honey, do we need to take you to see Scottie?” Elizabeth had asked. Scottie was a New Age therapist to whom my mothers had taken me several times during my childhood. “Just a tune-up,” they would say brightly, and I would sit on his scratchy sofa and insist that I didn’t mind having two moms, that I wasn’t scarred from my unusual origins, and that I would tell someone if I felt like hurting myself.
“Never mind.”
The wooden ass clattered to the floor. Elizabeth extinguished the match in a vintage bubble-glass ashtray and bent to retrieve the figurine.
“I was just wondering.”
Even now, I can still smell the tree—a real one, of course—in my mothers’ Minneapolis house, see the lights twinkling like a miniature solar system. When I first studied the work of Claudius Ptolemy in college, I had been comforted by the geographer’s certainty, by his theory that the arrangement of the stars and planets overhead at the time you were born not only determined everything about you as a human but also situated your place in the world. Destiny set at birth.
But I was born far from here.
Reading Group Guide
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1) Dorrie “hears” the voices of her deceased relatives giving her advice,
weighing in on her choices, and cheering her on. Do you think these
voices are real or “all in her head”? Can you relate to these voices,
especially the fact that her chorus is all female? What role does the
chorus of voices play in her life? Does it help or hinder her?
2) Dorrie’s college boyfriend Franklin Liu reappears in her life just as
she’s at an inflection point. Her mothers have died, she’s unemployed,
and she’s recently broken off a long-term relationship. She doesn’t
think it’s a good time for a new relationship. Do you think she would
have been better off alone? Have you ever gotten back together with
a former partner? Do you believe in “the love of your life”?
3) Despite her history, Dorrie’s never left the US before she returns
to her birthplace of Colombia. What gives her the courage to do
something so out of her comfort zone? What do you think she thinks
she’ll find there? Does she find it? Have you ever traveled outside of
the country? What did you learn about the place or yourself?
4) In many ways, the Victorian house Dorrie inherits from her mothers
is another character in the novel. How would you describe the
Victorian? Is it a heroine? A villain? How does the house help or
hinder Dorrie’s journey? Have you ever lived in a house that felt like it
had a personality?
5) All her life, Dorrie has wondered about her past and her lineage,
but she’s never gone in search of it until she’s encouraged to by
a deathbed promise. Why do you think she hasn’t sought out her
ancestry before? How does knowing where she and her family came
from impact her life? Her self-image? Have you ever done genealogy
or used DNA testing? How has learning about your ethnic/racial/
family background affected you? Is there ever an instance in which it
would be better not to know?
6) While the Victorian holds a lot of memories for Dorrie, it’s also a big
responsibility. She not only has the memories it holds, but she also
has the physical remains of her mothers’ lives from old clothes to the
cats. Is she lucky to own her childhood house or is it a burden? How
might her kitchen remodel affect her relationship with the house?
Have you ever embarked on home improvement projects? How do
they usually go?
7) Dorrie has a long history of relying on the advice of many people
in her life: her mothers, the voices of her chorus, her best friend
Becks, and even Franklin. Why do you think she’s so dependent on
other people’s opinions? Does it serve her? What spurs her to start
listening to her own inner voice? Do you seek advice or prefer to
forge your own path?
weighing in on her choices, and cheering her on. Do you think these
voices are real or “all in her head”? Can you relate to these voices,
especially the fact that her chorus is all female? What role does the
chorus of voices play in her life? Does it help or hinder her?
2) Dorrie’s college boyfriend Franklin Liu reappears in her life just as
she’s at an inflection point. Her mothers have died, she’s unemployed,
and she’s recently broken off a long-term relationship. She doesn’t
think it’s a good time for a new relationship. Do you think she would
have been better off alone? Have you ever gotten back together with
a former partner? Do you believe in “the love of your life”?
3) Despite her history, Dorrie’s never left the US before she returns
to her birthplace of Colombia. What gives her the courage to do
something so out of her comfort zone? What do you think she thinks
she’ll find there? Does she find it? Have you ever traveled outside of
the country? What did you learn about the place or yourself?
4) In many ways, the Victorian house Dorrie inherits from her mothers
is another character in the novel. How would you describe the
Victorian? Is it a heroine? A villain? How does the house help or
hinder Dorrie’s journey? Have you ever lived in a house that felt like it
had a personality?
5) All her life, Dorrie has wondered about her past and her lineage,
but she’s never gone in search of it until she’s encouraged to by
a deathbed promise. Why do you think she hasn’t sought out her
ancestry before? How does knowing where she and her family came
from impact her life? Her self-image? Have you ever done genealogy
or used DNA testing? How has learning about your ethnic/racial/
family background affected you? Is there ever an instance in which it
would be better not to know?
6) While the Victorian holds a lot of memories for Dorrie, it’s also a big
responsibility. She not only has the memories it holds, but she also
has the physical remains of her mothers’ lives from old clothes to the
cats. Is she lucky to own her childhood house or is it a burden? How
might her kitchen remodel affect her relationship with the house?
Have you ever embarked on home improvement projects? How do
they usually go?
7) Dorrie has a long history of relying on the advice of many people
in her life: her mothers, the voices of her chorus, her best friend
Becks, and even Franklin. Why do you think she’s so dependent on
other people’s opinions? Does it serve her? What spurs her to start
listening to her own inner voice? Do you seek advice or prefer to
forge your own path?
About The Author
Photograph by Anisah Hassan
Anika Fajardo was born in Colombia and raised in Minnesota. She is the award-winning author of Magical Realism for Non-Believers, What If a Fish, Meet Me Halfway, and The Many Mothers of Dolores Moore. She lives with her family in Minneapolis. Find out more at AnikaFajardo.com.
Product Details
- Publisher: Gallery Books (October 27, 2026)
- Length: 384 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668096864
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Raves and Reviews
"Anika Fajardo's The Many Mothers of Dolores Moore is a beautiful story of the different meanings on home, family, love, and belonging. Lyrical, poignant, and powerful, it will stay with readers for a long time."
– Yamile Saied Méndez, award-winning author of All Roads Lead to Rome
With lyrical insight and emotional depth, The Many Mothers of Dolores Moore explores what it means to lose your foundation and build a new one from memory, love, and the places that call you home. A powerful story about identity, ancestry, and the invisible threads that tie us together.
– – Booklist, starred review
"Dolores Moore’s longing to know her own and her mothers’ stories tenderly intertwines hearts across generations, landscapes and cultures with love, humor and vividly descriptive narrative. To experience this exquisitely written novel is to join in the wonderment of the quest, supporting and treasuring Dolores in the company of her unseen yet clearly and delightfully heard mothers and ancestors."
– Linda LeGarde Grover, author of In the Night of Memory
"Anika Fajardo's charming and poignant new book is a map of loss, motherhood, and magic that welcomes the reader home. There are tender revelations, vivid details and funny moments throughout. Truly, what a joy it was to spend time with "Dolores" and her cast of wise and delightful mothers in these pages!"
–Chantel Acevedo, author of The Distant Marvels and The Living Infinite
"Sometimes we need to tunnel into the past in order to find our way forward. Anika Fajardo's The Many Mothers of Dolores Moore is a vibrant, expansive, warm-hearted novel about the places that shape us, the loved ones who never leave us, and all the wrong turns that eventually bring us right back to where we belong."
–Lindsay Starck, author of Monsters We Have Made
With lyrical insight and emotional depth, The Many Mothers of Dolores Moore explores what it means to lose your foundation and build a new one from memory, love, and the places that call you home. A powerful story about identity, ancestry, and the invisible threads that tie us together.
– – Booklist, starred review
"Dolores Moore’s longing to know her own and her mothers’ stories tenderly intertwines hearts across generations, landscapes and cultures with love, humor and vividly descriptive narrative. To experience this exquisitely written novel is to join in the wonderment of the quest, supporting and treasuring Dolores in the company of her unseen yet clearly and delightfully heard mothers and ancestors."
– Linda LeGarde Grover, author of In the Night of Memory
"Anika Fajardo's charming and poignant new book is a map of loss, motherhood, and magic that welcomes the reader home. There are tender revelations, vivid details and funny moments throughout. Truly, what a joy it was to spend time with "Dolores" and her cast of wise and delightful mothers in these pages!"
–Chantel Acevedo, author of The Distant Marvels and The Living Infinite
"Sometimes we need to tunnel into the past in order to find our way forward. Anika Fajardo's The Many Mothers of Dolores Moore is a vibrant, expansive, warm-hearted novel about the places that shape us, the loved ones who never leave us, and all the wrong turns that eventually bring us right back to where we belong."
–Lindsay Starck, author of Monsters We Have Made
"A book that lingers long after you finish it." - People
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