The title is also an allusion to Alejo Carpentier's term "lo real maravilloso americano", "marvelous American reality",.
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The novel centers on a young boy named Beto, who has been left by his mother to be raised by his Spanish grandmother Josephina and Yaqui grandfather Manuel, both of whom carry on the spiritual traditions of their cultural heritages, Manuel as a shaman and Josephina as a curandera.