Spoiler-Free Review

If you’re looking for a short story set during the Mexican Revolution, try The Tiger Came to the Mountains.

What’s The Tiger Came to the Mountains about?

In war-torn Mexico, a young girl’s family goes to hide in the mountains. There, her resolve to protect her brother is tested.

This was a compelling one.

“What is godhood against the need of a child to save her brother? Nothing, I tell you.”

I fell in love with Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s writing in Mexican Gothic, so when I saw she had a short story in this collection, I had to read it.

The Tiger Came to the Mountains was a quick and moving tale about war, family, and inner strength. It was a unique person-vs-animal story set in the context of the Mexican Revolution. Our main character’s family is constantly at threat – from the soldiers, from hunger, from illness. It seems the darkness is trying to close in from every direction. This story managed to evoke that stress in just a few pages, while also painting a picture of a loving family.

The darkness threatening her family takes on a literal manifestation in the tiger, and the main character must come between the wild and her sick brother. It becomes an allegory for all she is willing to do, all she is willing to fight, to protect those she loves.

The tone was one of its strongest aspects. It’s a reflective piece that feels like a grandmother reflecting on a tale from her youth.

While it wasn’t as challenging as it could’ve been if it were longer, it was nonetheless a good story.

Should you read The Tiger Came to the Mountains?

If you like quick and emotional short stories, you should check out this short story. I also recommend it to fans of historical fiction, or fiction about the resilience of the human spirit and family.