Helpful Score: 3
Written with a lot of heart. I was hoping for a little more supernatural elements, but since this is technically about a woman who actually existed I suppose it can't be too supernatural.
Helpful Score: 3
I really loved this book, which did remind me of Gabriel García Márquez, although it's been a while since I've read anything by him. So maybe it's more that it reminds me of how I remember GGM: epic, earthy Magical Realism.
I love the sharp contrasts of Urrea's writing -- between the earthiness of the setting, the every day magic that takes place and the spiritual side of Teresita; in the various levels of POV, from very distanced, generic descriptions (the People, lengthy lists) to intimate details of individual lives. He created a book which is both sweeping and intimate, which made me feel alternately comfortable and outraged.
I love the sharp contrasts of Urrea's writing -- between the earthiness of the setting, the every day magic that takes place and the spiritual side of Teresita; in the various levels of POV, from very distanced, generic descriptions (the People, lengthy lists) to intimate details of individual lives. He created a book which is both sweeping and intimate, which made me feel alternately comfortable and outraged.
Helpful Score: 3
This book had me weeping more than once. The incredibly moving story of Teresa Urrea, The Hummingbird's Daughter, is based on a true historical figure who inspired a Mexican revolution, and who also happens to be a distant relation of the author, Luis Alberto Urrea. The first sections describe in realistic detail the impoverished childhood of a mixed-race girl, bastard daughter of a landowner and an Indian worker who abandons her child. However, the girl receives wealth beyond gold when she is taken in by a gifted medicine woman. When Teresa's own powers bloom, she astonishes everyone around her. A gripping tale of a truly good person facing down the evil of our world.
