The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina

Orquídea Divina travels across continents, countries, and state lines by train, bus, and on foot in order to find a place where she could build a home of her own. What journeys have you or your family taken for a better future? How far would you go?

Once Orquídea has created the home of her dreams, she is deliberate with the protections she ritualistically put on the house in Four Rivers. Aside from the magical reasons why she pressed gold-leaf laurel leaf into the shutters, why else might she feel the need to make this as safe a space as possible? Think back to the way she felt in her mother and stepfather’s home in Guayaquil.

Consider the way Orquídea was perceived and received when she first arrived in Four Rivers. Compare to the way immigrants are received today, particularly in the United States.

Compare and contrast how each of our protagonists—Marimar, Rey, and Tatinelly—have followed their own life paths. In what ways do they each connect with their heritage?

Although Orquídea has invited her progeny back to Four Rivers for her own funeral, she is instead transformed into a ceiba tree—in a limbo state between life and death. Think also of Orquídea’s pact with the river spirit; the way the land was when Orquídea transformed and how Marimar had to coax it back from the brink; the roses that sprout from Marimar, Rey, and Rhiannon’s skin; and the significance of being named after an orchid. What role does nature play in this novel?

Though Orquídea remarried several times, her family tree is mainly populated by strong women. Discuss the role of matriarchs in the Montoya family. How does it compare to your own family’s dynamics?

From fathers who are absent or gone too soon to powerful men who face their downfall before Orquídea, discuss the roles of the men in The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina. How do their relationships with our protagonists affect them?

What does the Londoño Londño Spectacular Spectacular represent for Orquídea? How does that change as her relationship with Pedro Bolívar Londoño III develops?

Tatinelly always felt ordinary; lucky and proud to a Montoya but also happy to love them from the periphery as she felt like she was never truly a part of them. What did she inherit from Orquídea? What was the significance of her final moment?

The climax of the novel pulls all of the characters back to Four Rivers, to the base of Orquídea Divina’s ceiba tree. Why was this the perfect location for their last stand? What did it mean for the remaining Montoyas to come together once more?

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina is categorized as magical realism, but there are rules—almost laws of nature—to the magic infused in the Montoyas’ story. What are they? What is the price they each have to pay?

Zoraida has brought the Montoya family so vividly to life that many readers have said they see their own family members in Orquídea, Marimar, Rey, Tatinelly, or the others; or that they wish they could befriend them in real life. Which character resonated with you the most? Why?

Setting plays an important part in the novel. Though the location of Four Rivers is left purposefully vague within the United States, where do you think it might be? Why? Compare Orquídea’s experience growing up in Ecuador and her descendants’ experience visiting decades later.